Doctor Candidates Will Be Evaluated for Performance

By Bae Ji-sook

Staff Reporter

From next year, prospective doctors will have to pass an additional medical practice test in order to get their doctor's license, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said Thursday.

According to a revision, the test will evaluate how the candidates examine and communicate with patients as well as their hand-written notes and prescriptions. They must pass both a written and practical test. If a candidate passes only one, they will get a one-time exemption for the subject they passed when they retake the test the following year.

The ministry is planning to hold three mock examinations to study the measure's effect and adopt it in late 2009.

It said hospitals should not let patients wait inside a consultation room while the doctor is examining another patient. ``It's to secure their privacy,'' a ministry official said.

Besides the rules for Western medicine, it also strengthened guidelines for Oriental medicine. It obliged Oriental medical facilities to hire a pharmacist if they issue more than 80 prescriptions a day. If they want to prepare the medical herbs themselves, they should build a separate pharmacy and employ a professional manager.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr