Doctor gets leave to challenge CSME blank

Dr Ryan Dhanraj is seeking an order to compel the ministry to make a decision on his 2014 application for a CSME skills certificate.

According to his application for leave, which was granted by Justice Joan Charles, Dhanraj, who graduated with his medical degree from the American International School of Medicine in Guyana on July 29, 2010, said he worked for the Government of Grenada under a CSME skills certificate until August 2013 when he moved to Trinidad.

Since he was the holder of a CSME skills certificate, which was granted to him by the Government of Grenada, he was permitted to practice here for six months.

He was also granted a work permit by the Ministry of National Security which allowed him to work beyond the six-month period and did so at the Sangre Grande Hospital until February 2016.

Dhanraj applied for a CSME skills certificate in March 2014, but in April the Accreditation Council denied recognition of his Doctor of Medicine Degree, saying it was not accredited by the Caribbean Accredited Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions.

Since his degree was not recognised, his CSME skills certificate was denied.

Dhanraj said he met former Foreign Affairs minister Winston Dookeran in January 2015 and he was later advised on the procedure to request a review of the application for the certificate.

He said he did so and also forwarded to the ministry the certificate of good standing from this country’s medical board which showed he was a registered member and was permitted to practice here for 2015.

He said the medical board indicated that graduates of the American International School of Medicine were not eligible for registration with the board but since he submitted satisfactory evidence of being successful in the United States Medical Licensing Examinations, he was eligible for temporary registration for three years to work in the approved public health institutions.

In February, Dhanraj was again granted a certificate of full registration with the board.

He also said he has sought the intervention of the current Foreign Affairs and Health ministers as well as Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and several other members of Parliament but to date he is yet to be notified of any development.

“I am distressed and disturbed with the manner in which this matter has been handled from inception to present,” he said in his lawsuit