A<unk>  (CO) is a gazetted<unk>  who is qualified and licensed to practice medicine. In her books, "Beyond the State: The Colonial Medical Service in British Africa" and "Indian Doctors in Kenya, 1895 - 1940: The Forgotten History", the author Anna Greenwood notes that before 1923 there were twice as many Indian doctors as there were European doctors working in the Colonial Medical Service. The Indian doctors had migrated to British Africa along with the coolies who came to work on the Uganda Railway. The Indian doctors faced discrimination and were not appointed to nor paid at the same rank as medical<unk> s (European doctors). Instead, they were designated as Assistant or Sub-assistant surgeons despite having attended similar 3 - 4 year Indian medical schools that were recognized by the General Medical Council in the UK and performing<unk>  and administrative duties that were largely identical to those of the European doctors. From the mid-1920s the Indians were removed from the colonial service as they were not deemed to be the proper face of the imperial services in Africa. The Indian Assistant and Sub-Assistant Surgeons were thus replaced with similarly qualified Africans who came to be known as<unk> s when the authorizing legislation was passed in 1988 abolishing the Assistant and Sub-Assistant Surgeon and similar positions. In Kenya, the origin of the<unk>  can be traced back to around 1888 when Sir William Mackinnon, 1st Baronet founded the Imperial British East Africa Company. The company was granted royal charter by Queen Victoria and was used by the Government of the United Kingdom to establish its influence in the East Africa Protectorate (present day Kenya). As the influence grew a healthcare system developed to meet the medical needs of the colony. In 1901 Kenyatta National Hospital was established as the Native Civil Hospital and later renamed the King George VI Hospital after King George VI of the United Kingdom. In 1958 the European Hospital (present-day Nairobi Hospital) was established in the same area to serve the European settlers. The need for qualified medical staff who would provide preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative services in hospitals and communities led to the establishment of the first formal training programme for<unk> s at Kenyatta National Hospital in 1928. The programme initially admitted experienced nurses and took them through a one-year certificate course which prepared them for advanced practice. The nursing track was discontinued and new students had to complete a medical course and sit and pass continuous assessment tests and final qualifying examinations which covered the biomedical sciences, medicine, surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, community health and health service management. The training expanded after Kenya's independence in 1962 through to 1970 when the newly created University of Nairobi started its own medical school and also used Kenyatta National Hospital as its teaching hospital. Legislation to regulate medical practice by<unk> s was passed in 1988 thus creating the<unk> s Council in 1989. In 1990 the Kenya Medical Training College was established by the government with campuses in all major towns and in 1996 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kakamega established St. Mary's School of<unk>  Medicine at St. Mary's Hospital in Mumias which become the second and third institutions to offer the training in Kenya. By this time<unk> s had to complete an accredited four-year programme of study, practicals and internship in<unk>  medicine and surgery and have their names entered in the<unk> s register which was cleaned annually and taken to the government printer to be published in the Kenya Gazette. Private practice by<unk> s who had left government service after working for a minimum of 10 years was now allowed. Professional degrees in<unk>  medicine and surgery were first offered by Egerton University and other universities as from 2006 and in 2012 the Commission for University Education Act No. 42 of 2012 removed the accreditation role from all regulatory bodies such as the<unk> s Council (COC) and the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) making the Commission for University Education (CUE) the only authorized accrediting body for all university degrees in Kenya including the degree in<unk>  medicine. In 2017 the old legislation was repealed and the<unk> s Council reconstituted by the<unk> s (Training, Registration and Licensing) Act No. 20 of 2017 which requires each<unk> , clinic or medical centre to be registered by the council and to maintain a current practice license and a current practising certificate in order to operate legally within the scope of medicine, dentistry, orthopedics or health work. A<unk>  may, with respect to patients - examine, diagnose, order laboratory and imaging investigations, prescribe treatment and perform procedures as per their scope of training.<unk> s are members of the Kenya<unk> s Association and the Kenya Union of<unk> s. In June 2020 the Public Service Commission approved the Revised Scheme of Service for<unk>  Personnel which was issued by the State Department for Public Service to define the<unk> 's career structure, job description, standards for recruitment, training and advancement, and career planning and succession management within the civil service. The scheme is administered by the Ministry of Health through the Cabinet Secretary and the Principal Secretary in conjunction with the Public Service Commission and the County Chief<unk>  for Health in each of the 47 Counties of Kenya.<unk>  is a professional designation established by the government through the<unk> s Council (COC) which has jurisdiction and responsibility for the<unk> 's training, registration and licensing and each<unk>  must (1) study<unk>  medicine and surgery or<unk>  medicine and community health for three or four years (2) graduate from a government-accredited medical training college (3) sit and pass a government licensing examination (4) complete an internship year at a teaching hospital (5) be registered as a<unk>  (6) have a medical practice licence (7) complete a three-year period of<unk>  supervision under a senior<unk>  or a senior medical<unk>  (8) have a practising certificate if they have a private practice which allows one to provide general medical services on their own directly to the public (9) undergo one or two additional years of specialized training (optional) and (10) become a trainer.<unk>  (CO) is a protected professional title and its use by unregistered persons is prohibited by law and punishable by up to five years in jail with or without a fine. Globally, the title may not have legal restrictions and can refer to a job grade rather than a medical qualification such as junior assistive<unk>  staff (e.g. in Zambia and Tanzania), licensed medical professionals (e.g. in Kenya and Malawi) or high-level corporate<unk> s, directors, and managers (e.g. Chief<unk> s in Europe and the United States). A<unk>  observes, interviews and examines sick and healthy individuals in all specialties to determine and document their health status and applies relevant pathological, radiological, psychiatric and community health techniques, procedures and findings needed to classify diseases and related health problems and to establish a provisional or final diagnosis upon which to prescribe, initiate, carry out or terminate treatment or therapy based on their specialized knowledge, skills and experience in<unk>  pharmacology, use of<unk>  guidelines, best practices and disease patterns as well as individual patient and community characteristics while being actively pharmacovigilant to prevent, identify, minimize and manage drug reactions, drug errors, side effects and poisoning, overdiagnosis, overscreening, overtreatment and futile care. A<unk>  performs general and specialized medical duties such as diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury, ordering and interpreting medical tests, performing routine medical and surgical procedures, referring patients to other practitioners and managing health departments, institutions, projects and systems.<unk> s, medical<unk> s and medical practitioners are the only<unk> s who are gazetted and licensed to practice medicine in Kenya. They work under oath and generate credible health data and information within communities and health institutions and cascade the same to the county and national governments, government agencies and third parties through standard recording and reporting tools from the Ministry of Health which are used to capture data on disease outbreaks, physical injuries and deformities, mental illness, drug resistance, disability, nutritional disorders, births and deaths among others.
Clinical officer
Clinician
Surgical technologist
Clinical biologist
Biomedical scientist
Pharmacist
Biological pharmacist
Proceduralist