Doctor challenges Medical Board's certification process

A doctor is challenging the Medical Board’s refusal to recognise his post-graduate qualifications for specialist certification.

Dr Sharaz Mohammed, the registrar at the urology department of the Port of Spain General Hospital, has received a judge’s permission to pursue his claim against the board over a policy for eligibility to the medical specialist register.

His claim will come up for hearing on June 7, 2024, before Justice Joan Charles who granted him leave.

Mohammed is challenging a decision by the board to suspend the application for specialist registration under an alternative pathway.

His lawsuit maintains he holds the qualification needed for a certificate of independent specialist practice but was denied the opportunity to apply in 2019.

In October, he was told the board’s council had agreed to suspend the application for specialist registration under Pathway B, until further notice.

“This suspension of Pathway B is also unfair such as it constitutes an abuse of power since the applicant is currently engaging in his examinations for admission as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.

“Pathway B therefore constituted an express representation, that the respondent intends to resile from in breach of the applicant’s legitimate expectation.”

Mohammed’s lawsuit said in 2015, doctors were told they should complete the MRCS qualification and submit an application for the registration of an additional qualification for their specialist practice certificate.

The MRCS is an intercollegiate exam. Mohammed received his MRCS qualification and another in urology in 2019.

“His application ought to have been considered before December 31, 2019, but he was refused the opportunity to make the application on the basis that they did not have the paper certificate in their possession. This was illegal,” his claim says.

It also says that the MBTT’s council had the power to make rules or regulations “for determining whether a person is a specialist” under the Medical Board Act, but, they must be approved by the general membership of the board and not the council then approved by the minister before it comes into force.

Mohammed’s lawsuit said the regulations set out the policy for specialist recognition and there was no evidence the policy had changed, downgrading the MRCS qualification.

Mohammed is represented by attorneys Jagdeo Singh, Karina Singh and Leon Kalicharan while Rajiv Persad, SC, represents the MBTT.