A dozen medical students again called on the government Wednesday to address what they said were discrepancies in the requirements for Taiwanese medical school graduates to practice their profession in their home country. The call came on the heels of a massive protest by medical students, which is rare in Taiwan, on the weekend. The approximately 1,000 local medical students who took to the streets in Taipei Sunday said the process whereby Taiwanese graduates of Polish medical schools could begin to practice in Taiwan was 'simple' and 'unfair' compared to the requirements that apply to graduates of local schools. In response, an Executive Yuan official said Monday that the Cabinet 'has heard the voice of the public' and will discuss a draft revision of the physician act Thursday. The draft bill seeks to introduce a requirement for Taiwan nationals who graduate from foreign medical schools to obtain accreditation of their academic qualifications before they could be allowed to sit the state medical doctor examination in Taiwan. If the bill is passed, they will also be required to serve internships at local hospitals for a certain period of time and pass screening process before being allowed to take the state exam, an official said. Under the current act, Taiwan students who graduate from medical schools in the United States, Japan, the European Union, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore or Hong Kong are not required to obtain accreditation of their academic credentials or serve internships at Taiwan hospitals before taking the state medical examination. However, the Federation of Medical Students in Taiwan has been demanding a revision of the act, saying that Taiwanese graduates of foreign medical schools should be subject to the same requirements as those who studied in Taiwan. The members of the federation noted that in order to enter medical schools, local applicants have to pass rigorous exams, and that only about 700 of the 100,000 senior high school students who took the entrance exams last year were admitted to medical schools in Taiwan. In comparison, the threshold for entry to medical schools in Poland and elsewhere in Europe is lower and the tuition less, they said, noting that local recruiters have been arranging for relatively large numbers Taiwanese senior high school students to enter such institutions. 