The Ministry of Health is only recruiting foreign medical personnel with rare specializations, said Dr. Ali Al-Qahtani, Assistant Undersecretary for the Training and Development of Manpower. He was responding to the recent uproar over the ministry's plan to recruit 3,598 specialists holding bachelor's and master's degrees in rare specializations such as speech therapy, audio visual, nuclear therapy and occupational therapy. He said the Ministry of Health only made the announcement after receiving the go-ahead from the Ministry of Civil Service. He said the Ministry of Health appoints Saudi candidates, with the same qualifications, in the same positions as foreigners. However, Saudis are not required to have experience and are expected to learn on the job. He said most of the vacancies announced by the ministry are for specialists with at least four years' experience after their bachelor's degrees and two years after their master's degrees. The recruitment is taking place from a number of countries including the Philippines, Pakistan, Jordan, India and Sudan.
