Sending a question to the Ministry of Health, reader N.H.D.D said: "I am a doctor, after completing the cardiovascular ultrasound course (6 months) and the intervention cardiovascular course (12 months), I was granted a certificate of continuous updating of medical knowledge in medical examination and treatment according to the form of Appendix II issued with Circular No. 32/2023/TT-BYT, I was given a decision by the hospital's leadership allowing me to perform an ultrasound prescription in the cardiovascular system.
However, when the Social Insurance agency came to inspect and request the issuance of the designation and procedures that I designated and performed with the reason that it did not meet the requirements under Circular No. 35/2016/TT-BYT, the Circular required the person performing the certificate".
"I would like to ask, is it right or wrong for a training institution to issue a certificate of continuous updating of medical knowledge in medical examination and treatment according to the form of Appendix II issued with Circular No. 32/2023/TT-BYT? Is the social insurance agency implementing this in accordance with regulations? Which legal documents are sample technical certificates issued according to?" - reader D asked.
Regarding this issue, the Ministry of Health responded as follows:
According to Clause 1, Article 22 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment No. 15/2023/QH15, it is: "1. Practitioners in one of the positions of doctor, nursing, midwife, civil engineer, clinical nutritionist, outpatient emergency doctor and clinical psychologist are responsible for continuously updating medical knowledge in accordance with the scope of practice".
Clause 1, Article 3 of Circular No. 32/2023/TT-BYT dated December 31, 2023 detailing a number of articles of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment stipulates: "1. Medical examination and treatment practitioners are obliged to participate in continuous updating of medical knowledge with at least 120 credit hours for 5 consecutive years (1 credit hour for short-term training and development courses equivalent to 1 lesson)".
At Point i, Clause 1, Article 4 of Circular No. 32/2023/TT-BYT, it is stipulated: "i) Certificate of participation in short-term training and development courses: After completing the short-term training and development course, practitioners are granted a certificate according to Appendix No. II issued with this Circular".
Thus, practitioners after completing short-term training and fostering courses are granted a certificate of continuous updating of medical knowledge to fulfill their responsibility to continuously update medical knowledge in accordance with the scope of practice according to the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (the time for continuous updating of medical knowledge according to the regulations of the Minister of Health: Practitioners in medical examination and treatment are obliged to participate in continuous updating of medical knowledge for at least 120 credit hours for 5 consecutive years).
According to Clause 3, Article 10 of Decree No. 96/2023/ND-CP dated December 31, 2023, which detailing a number of articles of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment: "3. In case the practitioner participates in training courses and is granted a certificate of professional technical training as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 12 of this Decree, not within the granted scope of practice, it is not necessary to carry out procedures to adjust the scope of practice, but based on the certificate of professional technical training as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 12 of this Decree and the professional technical performance capacity of the practitioner, the person responsible for professional expertise of the medical examination and treatment facility decides to allow the practitioner to practice the professionally trained technique in writing".
Clause 2, Article 12 of Decree No. 96/2023/ND-CP stipulates:
"2. Requirements for a certificate of professional technical training in medical examination and treatment:
a) Issued by an educational institution with at least 1 training course to grant a diploma by major and qualifications to be granted a license to practice medical examination and treatment with the corresponding title or is a medical examination and treatment facility that has been permitted by a competent authority to implement the corresponding professional techniques for at least 6 months;
b) Programs and documents for training technical certificates of expertise developed, appraised and issued by training institutions or used by other training institutions when approved in writing by that institution; program content, learning volume, lecturers in accordance with the list of professional techniques as prescribed by the Ministry of Health".
Decree No. 96/2023/ND-CP dated December 31, 2023 of the Government has completely decentralized units, organizations and training institutions that meet Clause 2, Article 12 of Decree No. 96/2023/ND-CP to organize training for granting professional technical certificates on medical examination and treatment.
Therefore, the Head of the training institution is responsible for developing, appraising, promulgating the training program and documents, ensuring training quality conditions (lecturer team, practice facilities, facilities and equipment...), granting professional technical certificates to learners after completing the course, in which the training subjects, program content, learning volume, and output standards must meet the requirements for the scope of medical practice of medical examination and treatment according to regulations.
