JEDDAH: About 14,000 graduates of private health institutes across the country have hired a lawyer to file an official complaint against the Ministry of Health for not employing them after many years of waiting. The radiology, anesthesiology, pharmacology and nursing graduates claim that they passed the Health Ministry's requirement for a qualification approved by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) and Occupational Classification's tests. The Ministry of Health, however, is “evading” their responsibility of employing them, while the Ministry of Civil Service is “ignoring” them. A number of graduates said a lawyer was hired “to follow up the case against the Ministry of Health”. They said they will address the Ministry of Civil Service and the human rights bodies because the Health Ministry “ignored (their) legitimate rights”. “We spent two-and-a-half years studying at the institutes and paid about SR50,000 in fees but we have no jobs to secure our future,” they said. They added that they applied for several jobs after passing the occupational classification exams but could not get employment. Ayed Al-Qahtani said he passed the SCHFS's test with the highest grade but was not employed after applying to several government and private hospitals. “The Health Ministry (referred) the health institute's graduates to the Civil Service Ministry,” he said. A source from the Ministry of Civil Service said there are medical job vacancies for men and women, including 30,071 for doctors, 867 pharmacists, 2,464 nurses, 95 anesthetists, 260 radiologists, 617 physical therapists and other technical positions.
