The number of visiting consultant physicians recruited by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in 1435H to boost health services provided for patients increased to 1,820 physicians at an increase rate of 77% compared to the past year (1434 H).
The Supervisor of the Visiting Physician Program, Dr. Abdullah Al-Wade'i, said that proceeding from MOH keenness to provide highly experienced manpower in a number of rare medical specialties at the international level, particularly consultants in the sophisticated medical specialties, the Ministry launched the Visiting Physician Program five years ago, seeking to meet the needs of all regions of the Kingdom of the consultant physicians to provide health services for the citizens in their locations.
The total number of the visiting consultant physicians reached 5,668 since the beginning of the program till now in the different specialties. They were attracted to work in regions and provinces of the Kingdom.
He added that MOH provides more than 60% of the health services in the Kingdom, the thing which increases the need for consultant physicians in the different regions and contributes to alleviating the fatigue of travel of the patients and their families to the central regions to receive treatment.
Within the same vein, Dr. Al-Wade'i underlined that the program has made great strides in recruiting consultant physicians in all rare specialties, thus contributing to achieving all its main objectives as the coverage of the regions with visiting physicians increases every year, explaining that the number of physicians reached 417 in 1431 H, 719 in 1432 H, 863 in 1433 H, 1,026 in 1434 H, 1,820 in 1435 H, and 823 in the first months of 1436 H.
“Still, the numbers are growing steadily,” he said, attributing this increase to the development of the program’s working mechanism and the increase of the physicians’ recruitment sources, the matter which contributed to provision of health services and development of performance in the different specialties and had a positive effect on the beneficiaries of the service and on the officials in each region.
He added that the program contributes to bridging the gap in all regions by expanding cooperation with all the distinguished and specialized parties around the world, in addition to the Saudi physicians who were carefully prepared and obtained the highest scientific certificates and training courses inside and outside the Kingdom so as to transfer knowledge and technology to all MOH facilities and gain patients’ satisfaction.
Over and above, Dr. Al-Wade'i pointed out that the program, besides providing the service for the patients in their locations, aims at providing training for the medical staff to achieve the MOH's vision in providing a comprehensive and integrated service, as well as developing and improving the performance in the facility, where the visiting physicians are working, making use of the Saudi competencies and working to permanently recruit physicians after verifying their scientific and practical qualifications.
All the more, Dr. Al-Wade'i explained that MOH has signed several contracts with the brotherly and friendly countries, universities, colleges and medical centers, including Egypt, Jordon, Cuba and the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan, aiming at supporting the program with a number of physicians and consultants in the different specialties.