The island’s healthcare service has welcomed some 268 medical graduates who recently started their internship at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) and the 11 public hospitals that are accredited for medical internships.
The medical internship is for a 12-month period, which comprises four three-month clinical placements within four core specialties, namely paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, general surgery, and internal medicine.
Of those assigned to the public system, the facilities in the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA): Spanish Town Hospital, Victoria Jubilee Hospital, Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) and Bustamante Hospital for Children, received the lion’s share (52 per cent) of the new medical doctors, who include recent graduates from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona and other international universities.
The Western Region (WRHA), Southern Region (SRHA) and North East Regional Authority (NERHA) shared the remaining doctors, with 34 per cent, 23 per cent and nine per cent of the interns being assigned to the hospitals in the respective regions. The UHWI has absorbed the remaining 53 doctors.
The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, has so far met with two groups of the newly minted graduates – at the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital and at the KPH. He has noted that, “There continues to be a great demand on the system for doctors at the primary and secondary levels, and we are pleased to be able to offer a place to the doctors who have applied for internship.
“In the placement of the medical interns, priority was giving to Jamaican nationals, but several foreigners were also placed. The ministry will be placing more emphasis on ensuring that our hospitals and health centres are outfitted with the requisite number of doctors and other health professionals as we roll out our primary and secondary care models,” elaborated Tufton.
He encouraged the doctors to care with compassion.
“Even though your primary role is to provide clinical guidance to patients, there must be increasingly an appreciation for the role of psychosocial support in caring for the users of our facilities. There needs to be a demonstration of empathy, and you are likely to achieve greater satisfaction from your roles if you develop a culture for compassionate care as you administer critical clinical care,” said Tufton.
The new doctors will now be applying knowledge gained through years of training, honing their craft at saving lives as they evaluate, monitor and care for patients under the watchful eyes and supervision of their seniors. Once the doctors successfully complete the internship period, they will then be fully recognized as registered physicians.
