What Medical Specialist Licensing Means in Georgia
The qualification path of a medical specialist is fully set out by the Georgian Law on Medical Activity, and completing that path is the precondition of the right to independent practice. The first stage is postgraduate education (professional training), which has two forms: residency and the alternative postgraduate education. The right belongs to a graduate of a higher medical educational institution holding a diploma who has earned the required number of points on the unified postgraduate qualification examination; the examination is administered by the Council, while its procedure and conditions are determined by the Minister's normative act.
Training in residency follows a residency program which, on the basis of accreditation by the Council and in agreement with the Ministry of Education, is approved by the Ministry; the state finances the training as needed. The alternative form means passing all modules of the residency program without a precise determination of the duration of individual modules or the program as a whole, yet its maximum aggregate term must not be less than the duration of the residency program in the relevant specialty and must not exceed it twofold; this form is financed by private funds.
Certification and the State Certificate
The second stage is certification — the assessment of the professional knowledge level and practical skills of medical personnel. For the right to independent practice in every medical specialty included in the list provided by the law, certification is mandatory. Certification results in the state certificate — a state document confirming the right to independent medical practice, which also determines the medical specialty.
The law's requirements for the state certificate are strict: it is mandatory only for independent medical practice; it is a document of strict accounting, bearing a series, a number and other protection marks; its transfer to another person is prohibited. The certificate is voided by decision of the issuing organ upon the holder's death or declaration of death, upon the holder's written request, or upon the discovery that a forged document was used as the basis for granting it.