A well-known plastic surgeon contacted the Ministry of Health: I have been working for a very long time, but I am not on the list

On April 17, the Ministry of Health published a list of doctors who have permission for practical medical activities in the specialty of "plastic surgery." The department noted that this list will be regularly updated when there are new legal grounds for allowing medical specialists to practice in the specialty. The Ministry of Health also reported that surgeons whose names are not on the list of specialist doctors authorized to practice in the specialty of "plastic surgery" in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan can work in the specialty in accordance with their basic education received at the Medical University or residency education.

However, the absence of many well-known plastic surgeons from this list has raised questions. On what basis were specialists included or not included in the list? If the activities of doctors not on the list are prohibited, what should specialists who have not been denied inclusion in the list do? These questions still remain open.

Well-known plastic surgeon Dilgam Maherramov, whose name is not on the list, told Oxu.Az that the decision was unexpected for both him and other members of the Association of Plastic Surgeons.

"I have been practicing plastic surgery for a very long time. I am a surgeon recognized by the World Society of Plastic Surgeons. The absence of my name on the list surprised me. Later we inquired, and we were told that this is a preliminary list and research is ongoing. That is, the list will be updated," he noted.

The doctor said that there are contradictory aspects in the list.

"After the list was published, I received a call from my friend who works in the Department of Plastic Surgery at the Institute for Advanced Training of Physicians. He says that the names of four residents he trained are on the list, but his, the teacher's, is not. Although every five years we undergo certification at the Institute for Advanced Training of Physicians. How should this be understood?" he said.

Dilgam Maherramov reported that he currently works as a chief researcher and plastic surgeon at the Academician Mustafa Topchubashov Scientific Surgical Center of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan and organizes international conferences.

"Hundreds of people from Europe and the USA come to the country every year because of me. How correct it is to evaluate my work simply by a list in such a situation, I don't know," says the doctor.

He noted that he had not received any official notification about discrepancies in his documents or about the refusal to permit his activities: "We did not expect at all that problems related to us would arise in this matter."

Note that the editorial office has sent a request to the Ministry of Health regarding this issue.