Nepal investigates foreign doctors over suspected ghost faculty at medical colleges

Nepal's medical council is launching a probe into foreign doctors working in the country, following revelations that some may be simultaneously employed in their home nations. The Nepal Medical Council has established a committee to scrutinize the credentials and employment records of these international medical professionals.

“

We have formed a committee to examine documents submitted by all foreign doctors seeking to serve in Nepal.

The investigation was prompted by instances where a doctor, having secured permission to practice in Nepal, was found to be concurrently working in their country of origin. Officials suspect that private medical colleges are exploiting this practice to artificially inflate their faculty numbers. These colleges allegedly present foreign doctors as part of their staff only during monitoring visits to secure or increase their allocated undergraduate seats.

“

We suspect that private medical colleges bring in foreign doctors only to present them during our monitoring visits.

Between 300 and 500 foreign doctors, predominantly from India, are believed to be working in Nepal, primarily teaching at private medical colleges. The council is concerned that these doctors are used as 'ghost faculty,' appearing only for inspections before returning to their home countries. Complaints from students suggest that some colleges falsely list doctors as faculty members who do not actually teach, leading to deception.

“

Some foreign doctors are there only when the colleges are being inspected, but they return to their home countries and work there at other times.

Historically, the Nepal Medical Council's representatives were part of the monitoring teams that inspected medical colleges and determined seat allocations. However, the Medical Education Commission now conducts these visits without council representation. This change, coupled with suspicions of advance notice given to colleges about inspections, allows them to manipulate appearances, including arranging for a larger patient flow to create a false impression of high clinical activity.

“

We suspect that medical colleges are tipped off in advance about monitoring visits so that they can present foreign doctors as faculty members and also arrange more patients to be at the hospital to give the impression of a large patient flow.