Scotland is retraining Syrian refugee doctors to work for the NHS Doctors from Syria and other war-torn countries who travelled to Scotland as refugees are to be given the chance to […]

Doctors from Syria and other war-torn countries who travelled to Scotland as refugees are to be given the chance to start working for the NHS through a new training fund.

The New Refugee Doctors Project will give qualified doctors training, language support and mentoring, with the aim of helping them to register with the General Medical Council and practice medicine in Scotland.

“Getting back into medicine is what I have been looking for since my first day in Scotland, and I cannot imagine myself being anywhere else” The i politics newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription. Mohammad Helmi, Syrian doctor

The £160,000 scheme is being funded by the Scottish Government, which said it was the only such project in the UK to give refugee doctors clinical placements allowing them to understand the structure, culture and ethics of the NHS.

It is hoped that the doctors will be able to use their previous experience and training to become “valuable contributors to the NHS. To qualify for funding, they must commit to working for the Scottish health service afterwards.

“Getting back into medicine is what I have been looking for since my first day in Scotland, and I cannot imagine myself being anywhere else,” said Mohammad Helmi, a Syrian doctor who is taking part in the project. “It is my passion where I will able to contribute the most to humanity.”

Dr Greg Jones, of NHS Education Scotland, which works with GP surgeries to train doctors to become senior clinicians, said the refugees would have to prove they had a “high standard of written and spoken English” before sitting their medical exams.

‘Crucial to integration’

The training scheme will be run by the Bridges Programmes, a charity specialising in the social, educational and economic integration of refugees, in partnership with the British Medical Association, NHS Education for Scotland, Clyde College and the City of Glasgow College.

Equalities Secretary Angela Constance announced the funding at Kersland House Surgery in Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, which will be involved in the training of refugee doctors.

“This programme – unique in the UK – will reduce the de-skilling of medics who have sought refuge in Scotland, and will allow NHS Scotland to utilise the experience of refugee doctors with valuable and highly specialised skills,” she said.

“We know access to training and employment is crucial to integration, and it can be devastating for those who had a skill in their home country to be unable to use that in their new country.

“By giving people a helping hand to utilise their skills we’re not only supporting them to make connections and friendships, and to build a better life, but we will all benefit from those skills too.”

In November it was announced that Scotland has provided homes for more than 1,200 Syrian refugees since the first flight arrived in Glasgow in 2015, with all but three of the nation’s 32 local councils taking part in the resettlement programme.