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The Medical Practitioners and Dentists (Registration, Licensing, Assessment and Internship) Rules

Legal Notice 156 of 1979

This is the latest version of this Legal Notice.
The Medical Practitioners and Dentists (Registration, Licensing, Assessment and Internship) Rules
Citation
Legal Notice 156 of 1979
Primary work
Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act
Date
31 December 2022
Language
English
Type
Legal Notice
Original enactment
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LAWS OF KENYA

MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS AND DENTISTS ACT

THE MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS AND DENTISTS (REGISTRATION, LICENSING, ASSESSMENT AND INTERNSHIP) RULES

LEGAL NOTICE 156 OF 1979

  • Published in Kenya Gazette Vol. LXXXI—No. 32 on 20 July 1979
  • Commenced on 20 July 1979
  1. [Amended by Medical Practitioners and Dentists (Registration, Licensing, Assessment and Internship) (Amendment) Regulations, 2005 (Legal Notice 131 of 2005) on 3 November 2005]
  2. [Revised by 24th Annual Supplement (Legal Notice 221 of 2023) on 31 December 2022]

Part I – PRELIMINARY

1.These Rules may be cited as the Medical Practitioners and Dentists (Registration, Licensing, Assessment and Internship) Rules.
2.In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires—"assessment" means the determination of the suitability of a person for registration or licensing under the Act including by means of oral or written examination or both, and the determination of a period, if any, iwhich the Board considers necessary for a person to undergo remedial training;"chairman" means the chairman of the Board;"co-ordinator" means the person for the time being appointed as co-ordinator of assessment examinations under rule 9;"intern" means a person holding a medical or dental degree or diploma recognized by the Board, or a person who has passed the internship qualifying examination, and who is undergoing a prescribed period of internship in a recognized institution;"internship" means training employment;"internship qualifying examination" means a written or oral examination or both which determines the suitability of foreign trained graduates who do not hold degrees or diplomas recognized by the Board to undergo internship;"licensed" means licensed under section 13 of the Act to render medical or dental services;"recognized institution" means an institution declared to br a recognized institution for internship and gazetted in accordance with regulation 29(3);"registered" means registered as a medical practitioner or dentist under section 6 of the Act;"remedial training" means a period of extra training in a defined discipline or disciplines determined from time to time by the Board;"supervisor" means a medical or dental practitioner of consultant status appointed by the Board to supervise the performance of an intern in any one of the approved disciplines during the period of internship.[L.N. 131/2005, r. 2(a).]

Part II – REGISTRATION AND LICENSING

3.(1) An application for registration or licensing shall be submitted to the Registrar in the form, and together with fee, prescribed in the Medical Practitioners and Dentists (Forms and Fees) Rules (L.N. 19/1978) and shall be accompanied by—
(a)legible photocopies of the applicant's diplomas, degrees, licences or other qualifications, and testimonials, all of which shall be attested against the originals by an official of the Board; and
(b)a curriculum vitae.
(2)An application by a person registered in a foreign country shall, in addition to the documents specified in paragraph (1), be accompanied by a certificate of good standing and registration or similar certificate containing evidence of registration from the appropriate foreign authority.
4.A medical or dental practitioner who was previously registered in Kenya and who on the 1st January, 1978 had attained the age of sixty five and retired shall be exempted from paying any registration fee.
5.The Registrar shall issue free of charge a licence to enable an applicant who has satisfied the provisions of Parts IV and V of these Rules to undergo an internship.
6.The Registrar, in consultation with the chairman, shall, on behalf of the Board, issue, on payment of the prescribed fee, a licence to an applicant who is not otherwise eligible to be registered and who is considered to be of good character and a fit and proper person to be licensed, or who does not wish to be registered even though he is qualified to be registered, to render medical or dental services in a salaried post as provided by sections 13 and 14 of the Act.
7.The Board shall approve all applications for registration or licensing before certificates of registration or licences are issued.

Part III – ASSESSMENT

8.No person to whom section 11(2) of the Act applies shall be registered unless he has passed or has been exempted from an assessment examination.
9.(1) There is hereby established a committee known as the assessment committee which shall consist of a co-ordinator of assessment examinations who shall be the deputy chairman of the Board and such other members as may be appointed by the Board from time to time.
(2)The committee shall consist of two panels, one of which shall consist of four medical practitioners and the other of two dentists.
(3)Where the co-ordinator sits on any panel he shall be the chairman of that panel in any other case he shall appoint a chairman.
(4)The committee shall sit at least once in three months.
10.The committee may co-opt not more than two medical practitioners and two dentists, one of whom may be of consultant status, who are not members of the Board, to serve on the relevant panel from time to time.
11.The co-ordinator shall as soon as possible after completion of an assessment examination submit to the Board a written report signed by the members of the panel giving in the case of each candidate—
(a)the name and address;
(b)the marks attained in oral and written examination and the result;
(c)any recommendations as to whether the candidate should be referred for further internship or remedial training and for how long;
(d)any other general recommendations, observations or remarks.
12.Where a report is submitted under rule 11 recommending that a candidate should not be registered, the Board shall, unless it proposes to authorize registration notwithstanding such report, inform the candidate concerned of the substance of the committee's report and recommendations.
13.(1) A candidate may, within fourteen days of his being informed of the committee's recommendation that he should not be registered, appeal to the full Board against such report and recommendation.
(2)A decision by the Board on appeal under this rule shall be final.
14.A candidate for an assessment examination shall pay to the Board a fee of one hundred shillings.

Part IV – INTERNSHIP QUALIFYING EXAMINATION AND REMEDIAL TRAINING

15.Any person who has qualified outside Kenya shall be required to engage in internship and, unless exempted under rule 20, shall be required to pass an internship qualifying examination (in this part referred to as "the examination"), which may be written or oral or both, recognized and approved by the Board and which is of equivalent standard to the qualifying examinations in medicine or dentistry of the University of Nairobi.
16.The examination shall be conducted by the assessment committee and shall be held as and when necessary.
17.(1) A candidate who fails the examination shall be required to undergo a period of remedial training in those disciplines in which in the opinion of the assessment committee he has inadequate knowledge.
(2)A remedial training period shall as far as possiblie be continuous and shall not exceed a total of six months.
(3)On expiry of a remedial training period a written report shall be submitted to the Board by the administrator or medical superintendent of the relevant hospital in consultation with the candidate's supervisor.
(4)A person shall be required to undergo remedial training if—
(a)he fails to pass the examination;
(b)he does not satisfy his supervisors during his internship;
(c)he fails assessment examination after three consecutive attempts at monthly intervals;
(d)he has been subject to disciplinary action arising out of professional incompetence.
18.A person who fails the examination shall be allowed two more attempts which shall be made during the remedial training period, and any person who fails the examination three times shall be deemed unsuitable for internship or for registration or licensing.
19.A fee of one hundred shillings shall be payable by a candidate for the examination each time it is attempted.
20.Medical and dental graduates who are holders of degrees or diplomas which are recognized by the Board shall be exempted from the examination.
21.A period of remedial training may be undergone voluntarily by any person before attempting the examination.
22.(1) Any administrator of a medical institution in Kenya which, without prior approval of the Board, offers internship to a person who has neither passed the examination nor been exempted under rule 20, shall be guilty of an offence, and liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand shillings.
(2)Any person who has neither passed the examination nor been exempted under rule 20 and who, without the prior approval of the Board, undergoes internship shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand shillings or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding one month or to both such fine and imprisonment.

Part V – INTERNSHIP

23.A person who is holder of a degree, diploma or other qualification which is recognized by the Board or who passed the internship qualifying examination referred to in Part IV shall undergo a prescribed period of internship.
24.(1) An intern shall receive from the Board at the commencement of the period of internship a copy of "Guide Lines for Interns" detailing all the disciplines and areas which he is expected to cover during the prescribed period of internship before being considered for registration.
(2)The Board shall inform the intern in writing of the recognized institution where internship may be undertaken.
25.During the period of internship, an intern shall be under the supervision and guidance of the employing institution in conjunction with the approved supervisors and he shall be offered every opportunity and facility to enable him to undergo his internship.
26.On completion of internship, an intern shall submit a duly completed internship assessment form to the Board through the medical superintendent of the recognized hospital where he has completed his internship, and through the Provincial Medical Officer of the respective province.
27.Upon receipt of the supervisor's recommendations, the Board shall issue a registration certificate or licence, or direct the intern to undergo a further period of internship in the disciplines in which his performance may have been found to be unsatisfactory; and such further period of internship may be undertaken in the same or a different institution or institutions for a period of not less than three months.
28.No person shall be entitled to be registered as a medical or dental practitioner unless he has successfully completed a prescribed period of internship.
29.(1) Institutions which shall be recognized by the Board for training employment shall meet the following requirements—
(a)they shall have been gazetted as approved medical institutions in accordance with the Act;
(b)provision of constant supervision of interns, in the case of medical interns, by at least one consultant or specialist and one other full time medical practitioner with a postgraduate qualification in each of the following disciplines, namely medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology and surgery, and in the case of dental interns by at least two dentists of consultant grade and one additional dentist with a post-graduate qualification;
(c)provision in addition of at least one consultant or specialist in pathology, radiology and anaesthetics;
(d)provision of a properly stocked and functioning medical library, and every such institution shall be liable to inspection by the Board from time to time in order that the Board may satisfy itself that the provisions of this rule are being complied with.
(2)Any institution which fails to provide the minimum requirements specified in paragraph (1) may have its recognition withdrawn by the Board.
(3)Notwithstanding any other provisions of these Rules, the Board may from time to time, by notice in the Gazette, declare recognized institutions for internship.

SCHEDULE

[Deleted by LN 131 of 2005, r. 2(b).]
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History of this document

31 December 2022 this version
03 November 2005
20 July 1979
Commenced