Approval has been given by Cabinet for the appointment of the 13-member Medical Council.
The primary duty of the Medical Council of Jamaica is to protect the public by regulating the conditions of medical practice across Jamaica.
“In keeping with Section 4 of the Medical Act, the functions of the Council will include to: register medical practitioners; appoint examiners to conduct examinations in respect of persons applying for registration as medical practitioners, as may from time to time be necessary; and to ensure the maintenance of proper standards of professional conduct by registered medical practitioners, a release from the Ministry of Health and Wellness stated.
“The first order of business for the Medical Council will be to elect a chairman,” the release outlined.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of the West Indies, Dr Tomlin Paul will serve as Ex-Officio members.
The members will serve on the council for a period of three years.
Reports of the appointments come after Health Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton earlier this year responded to growing concerns about the absence of a functioning Medical Council of Jamaica.
The Council keeps an updated medical register of all medical practitioners licensed to practice across Jamaica. This Register helps the general public to distinguish between qualified and unqualified practitioners.
No person is regarded as legally-qualified to practice medicine in Jamaica unless his or her name appears on the most recent list of this Register, and he/she is in possession of a current practising certificate.
