The High Court has rejected British doctor Ahmed Khashaba’s attempt to obtain automatic registration as a specialist in orthopaedics and trauma surgery in Ireland.
Mr Justice Bryan McMahon held that a medical registration certificate issued in Montserrat did not oblige the Irish Medical Council to place Khashaba on its specialist register under European Community rules on recognition of medical qualifications.
Khashaba, a British national with an Egyptian background, obtained his medical degree in London and accumulated most of his subsequent qualifications and experience in the United Kingdom. He was registered as a general practitioner in the UK and had practised as a consultant there, although he was not registered as a consultant.
He applied to the Irish Medical Council in September 2003 for specialist registration. His original application relied on a Swedish registration certificate, but Swedish authorities subsequently informed the council that he had been removed from their specialist register. He did not challenge that removal in Sweden.
The Medical Council then considered his Montserrat registration and his broader training and experience. It ultimately refused specialist registration and recommended further training.
Khashaba argued that Montserrat’s constitutional connection with the United Kingdom meant his certificate should receive automatic recognition under European rules governing free movement and medical qualifications.
The court rejected that argument. Montserrat was an overseas country and territory associated with the European Community, not a member state. Its certificate was also not the specialist-training certificate specified by the relevant European directive, and evidence before the court was that Montserrat had no specialist register, accreditation system or specialist training programme of the type required.
The court separately considered Khashaba’s UK qualifications and experience. It found that the Medical Council had assessed them in accordance with European law and was entitled to conclude that his training was not equivalent in duration and quality to structured higher surgical training in Ireland.
The application was therefore dismissed and no relief was granted.