Summary.
The law recognizes the clinical assistant profession and sets the requirements for its practice in public and private health institutions. It governs duties and employment conditions.
What it covers.
- Recognition and practice of the clinical assistant profession.
- Education and professional authorization requirements.
- Clinical assistants’ duties and employment conditions.
Who it applies to.
- Clinical assistants in public or private health institutions.
- People seeking to practice as clinical assistants.
Key points.
- The law recognizes the clinical assistant profession and subjects its practice to the law and its implementing regulations.Art. 1
- People working as clinical assistants in public or private health institutions when the law takes effect are recognized as clinical assistants.Art. 2
- Practice requires Panamanian nationality, a qualification endorsed by the Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación) after at least one year of training, and authorization from the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud) through the National Nursing Committee (Comité Nacional de Enfermería).Art. 3
- A clinical assistant assists the physician under a nurse’s supervision during patient care in an outpatient clinic or similar facility.Art. 4
- Clinical assistants in public institutions have job stability under the Administrative Career Law (Ley de Carrera Administrativa) and its implementing rules; those in private companies are subject to the Labor Code.Art. 5
- The Executive Branch establishes a career classification for clinical assistants serving in state agencies through a commission comprising the bodies and association named in the law.Art. 6
- The law establishes July 8 of each year as Clinical Assistant Day and assigns the Executive Branch, through the Ministry of Health, to issue its implementing regulations.Art. 7, Art. 8