The General Doctors Syndicate urged its members to participate in a protest to be staged tomorrow in front of the syndicate's headquarters. The protest will be against violations purportedly committed by physiotherapists, who, it is claimed, are encroaching on the medical profession. The syndicate will also hold a conference bringing together physicians belonging to the syndicate to determine the legal and professional violations carried out by physiotherapists. The syndicate is expected to take extreme measures in response to the actions of physiotherapists, who are considered to have publicly insulted physicians, and against their syndicate chief, Dr. Hamdi el-Sayyed. In the meantime, Sami Saad, acting chief of the Physiotherapists Syndicate, called on el-Sayyed to participate in a public debate with him. Members of the general assemblies of both syndicates were also invited to join the debate, the purpose of which is to reveal el-Sayyed's attempts to play down the significance of physiotherapy as a profession, to the advantage of physicians. Such attempts are seen by physiotherapists as violating the law. "If the Doctors Syndicate chief is serious, then he should prove us wrong, but he doesn't have the right to speak about violations and impose punishments, because in such a case the appropriate authority to do so is the Ministry of Health," said Saad. Saad added that some doctors daily carry out violations such as medical negligence and breaches of ethical rules. Saad views the protest organized by the Doctors' Syndicate as an attempt on the part of el-Sayyed to influence political leadership. He said that he would not heed such calls. Said Sayyed, head of the Media Committee of the Doctors Syndicate, said: "At the conference we will uncover how physiotherapists violate the law that governs their very own work. […] We have detected violations committed by doctors in all governorates." He also emphasized that physiotherapists are not physicians but rather specialists who graduate from higher institutes, and thus do not have the right to examine patients, diagnose diseases or prescribe medication - whereas natural medicine physicians graduate from universities with master's and doctorate degrees. Sayyed wondered why physiotherapists were objecting to their exclusion from the Law on Organ Transplants, when they are only considered to be assistants to physicians. Sayyed also pointed out that physiotherapists wish to join the Union of Medical Professions even though the union embraces four medical syndicates only, namely those of physicians, dentists, pharmacists and veterinarians. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
