Taiwanese dentists are protesting against a government plan aimed at improving dental care in rural areas. It would expand opportunities for foreign-educated dentists to get internships in Taiwan, but local dentists worry they are not properly qualified.
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00:00Hundreds of Taiwanese dentists and dental students march in Taipei, calling for tighter
00:09restrictions on opportunities for dentists who were educated overseas to work in Taiwan.
00:14They say there should be a limit on the number of internship spots for foreign-educated dentists
00:18in Taiwan, which they call bobo dentists because some study in Poland.
00:23And they are opposing a new $73 million government plan that aims to improve dental care in rural
00:28areas, because it would expand opportunities for foreign-trained dentists to get these
00:33internships and potentially work as dentists in Taiwan.
00:53The concern over these bobo doctors comes after one of them improperly performed a surgery
00:58in Taiwan last year, which caused their patient to die.
01:02There are also concerns that their training overseas does not adequately qualify them
01:05to practice medicine in Taiwan, because a loophole in Taiwanese laws exempts some of
01:10them from one of the tests normally required to get a medical license here.
01:14But a group of internationally-educated dentists pushed back against these claims, arguing their
01:18training is sufficient.
01:28In response to the debate, the health ministry said that eligibility requirements for foreign-educated
01:38medical professionals may get stricter in the future.
01:41Yixin Chen and Cadence Cuaranta for Taiwan Plus.