The need for national medical licensing examination in Saudi Arabia.
BACKGROUND
Medical education in Saudi Arabia is facing multiple challenges, including the rapid increase in the number of medical schools over a short period of time, the influx of foreign medical graduates to work in Saudi Arabia, the award of scholarships to hundreds of students to study medicine in various countries, and the absence of published national guidelines for minimal acceptable competencies of a medical graduate.


CONCLUSIONS
We are arguing for the need for a Saudi national medical licensing examination that consists of two parts: Part I (Written) which tests the basic science and clinical knowledge and Part II (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) which tests the clinical skills and attitudes. We propose this examination to be mandated as a licensure requirement for practicing medicine in Saudi Arabia.


CONCLUSIONS
The driving and hindering forces as well as the strengths and weaknesses of implementing the licensing examination are discussed in details in this debate.
Bajammal
Sohail
S
Medical Education Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. sohail@bajammal.com
Zaini
Rania
R
Abuznadah
Wesam
W
Al-Rukban
Mohammad
M
Aly
Syed Moyn
SM
Boker
Abdulaziz
A
Al-Zalabani
Abdulmohsen
A
Al-Omran
Mohammad
M
Al-Habib
Amro
A
Al-Sheikh
Mona
M
Al-Sultan
Mohammad
M
Fida
Nadia
N
Alzahrani
Khalid
K
Hamad
Bashir
B
Al Shehri
Mohammad
M
Abdulrahman
Khalid Bin
KB
Al-Damegh
Saleh
S
Al-Nozha
Mansour M
MM
Donnon
Tyrone
T
D000068:Accreditation; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000592:standards; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education; D005550:Foreign Medical Graduates / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000592:standards; D008007:Licensure, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000592:standards*; D017149:Private Sector; D017150:Public Sector; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D013044:Specialty Boards