A medical certificate is a statement from a physician or other health care
provider that attests to the result of a medical examination of a patient. It can
serve as a "sick note" or evidence of a health condition.
An aegrotat or sick note is a type of medical certificate excusing a student's
absence from school for reasons of illness.
Purpose and applications Medical certificates are sometimes
required to obtain certain health benefits from an employer, make an
insurance claim, for tax purposes, or for certain legal procedures. Medical
certificates are used to indicate eligibility of activity, such as the use
of disabled parking. Medical certificates can also be used to
describe a medical condition a person has, such as blindness. Medical
certificates are often used to certify that someone is free of contagious
diseases, drug addiction, mental illness, or other health issues.
Health criteria are often required when making an application for something,
such as an eye examination to get a driver's license. Other times medical
criteria are presented voluntarily by an applicant in a self-assessment, without
either a doctor or access to the person's medical record. Specific health
criteria or medical history are required for certain jobs.
In the United States, the majority of pilots are required to possess a valid
medical certificate that certifies sound health as part of the requirements for
piloting an airplane. In the U.S., sport pilots may use a valid state driver's
license in place of a medical certificate, and glider and hot air
balloon pilots are not required to obtain them.
Aegrotat The term aegrotat is used primarily in
the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations. In the context of British
undergraduate degrees a student who is too ill to finish may be awarded an
aegrotat degree if the student otherwise would have passed exams or other
requirements. Impact on occupation
Except in certain unique circumstances, a holder of a medical certificate in the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration may not "act as pilot in
command or in any other capacity as a required flight crewmember of an
aircraft". A patient with conditions such as:
measles, chicken-pox, hepatitis A, leprosy, typhoid fever, and whooping
cough, can return to work immediately after their healing phase or medical
tests. Almost always the patient may only be allowed to return to work upon
submission of a medical certificate. = Impact of medical certificate on sick
leave payment = Eligibility
Sometimes, there are standards and procedures in place, for workers in a
certain field to be eligible to receive a medical certificate. Any airman at the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration must give their employees
access to the National Driver Register. On top of this, other tests which are
required for first-, second- and third-class airmen are: eye,
earthroat/equilibrium, mental, neurologic, and cardiovascular.
The India List and India Office List 1905 explains that officers on "Long
Leave in Europe" must, among other things, provide a medical certificate,
which is obtained at the Medical Board of India Office.
Practical Guide to Employees' State Insurance Act, Rules and Regulations
explains that under the ESI Act, the employee must obtain a medical
certificate via the ESI Dispensary/Hospital, which then gets
deposited at the nearest office of the ESI Corporation.
Falsification As many illnesses can come about
suddenly, sometimes the worker will not have enough time to receive a medical
certificate, or may be too sick to obtain one. In other cases, the worker
may not be bothered to go to the trouble of getting one, or may be lying about
their illness and want to falsify a certificate to back up their story to
their boss. There have been discussions regarding
whether it is okay to fire someone for submitting a fabricated medical
certificates. In many cases, it is deemed wrong, such as in Australia where
a bank officer was dismissed after handing in a forged certificate, which
prompted a Fair Work Australia Commissioner to say they had a
"continued lack of regard for the truth". Another example is a WA police
officer who was stood down after committing the same offense. Sometimes
it is not so black and white. In one case, a woman claimed she was "coerced
into falsifying [a] medical certificate [which ultimately led to her being
fired] because she was 'being bullied and treated unfairly' by two managers".
There are some companies that sell fake medical certificates. Although the site
Doctors Note Store sells "fake sick notes and medical certificates for
workers in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom", they add that the
"fakes are for 'novelty use only'". At Flinders University, "providing a
forged medical certificate" is viewed as academic misconduct.
In New South Wales, medical professionals who "deliberately issue a
false, misleading or inaccurate certificate" can be charged under the
Medical Practice Act. This is in response to The New South Wales Medical
Board "receiving numerous complaints from employers, insurers, the courts,
etc regarding the quality, accuracy and truthfulness of sickness certificates".
Validation In order to prove that one's medical
certificate is authentic, the following should be done and taken into
consideration: Having it written in legible text, in
the doctor's handwriting, and without "abbreviations or medical jargon".
Should only include facts or observations made by the doctor, and
each should be justified. Should include the date of appointment,
how sick the patient is, the date they can go back to work, be addressed to the
recipient of the certificate, Should only be for something "observed
by the doctor" or "reported by the patient and deemed to be true by the
doctor". Can be issued after the patient has
taken sick leave, but it must include the date of appointment, and the length
of time the employee should be out of work for.
Should consider if the patient can return to work before they have fully
healed, but with "altered duties". Respect "rights to confidentiality" and
consent of patient (sometimes, the reason for sick leave may be personal
and the patient may request it taken off the certificate, in which case "it
should be made clear to the patient that the information provided on the
certificate may not be sufficient to attract sick leave and that an employer
has the ultimate right to accept or to reject a certificate".
Falsifying a medical certificate is a form of fraud.
See also Birth certificate
Death certificate References
External links One and another sample medical
certificate. A New Zealand university policy on
aegrotat degrees