nakujua wrote:jguru wrote:nakujua wrote:most nurses and clinical officers easily step in the doctors roles in most hospitals around the country, there is nothing much when it comes to gp's and the qualifications - kmtc can as well train doctors.
I'm waiting for the day when I'll see a nurse or a CO doing a caesarian section or a laparatomy. A CO would fit in no other health care system in the world except the Kenyan one.
You will probably never see a nurse or a CO perform the procedures - though not sure but I have a feeling the graduate nurses might be trained in emergency Cesarian procedures.
CO's would probably fit in a more qualified paramedics role in the west. the position was created to bridge the need for specialized medical personnel in the country due to the lack of doctors.
Anyway, a bigger percentage of health issues do not involve caesarian sections or a laparatomy - either way I doubt if most gp in the country can perform the said procedures. Those are meant for more specialized personnel.
Look at Cuba, it has one of the best medical systems in the world. Their medical schools dont only admit A+ students. In Kenya COs offer medical care to the majority of Kenyans and I suspect including the relatives of these doctors upcountry. There is always room for improvement and you can pick anecdotal incidents of MMed doctors mistakes if you want (closing CS with towels, anyone remember?)but that is not the point.
I maintain MKU and others are doing us (Kenyans) a good service by bringing more doctors to the marketplace. I wouldnt just dismiss them from hearsay. I hope regulators will ensure they offer proper training. I think its a good step that the board will be offering board exams to ensure doctors are trained properly in all local universities.
The lack of sufficient specialist doctors can be partly explained by limited number of scholarships offered by GOK at UoN/Moi in the past to control supply (and preserve the exclusive club) but not because there is a shortage of Kenyan doctors ready and able to specialize. The newer medical schools will train more i hope. I have never been to Thika level 5 so I dont know their bed capacities and cases they handle but I know Kisii level 5 handles referral cases for the whole of South Nyanza and has sufficient specialists to run a medical school and offer sufficient training.
In some countries (US, UK, SA, Philippines) medicine is a graduate degree ie you finish your BSc then go to medical school for 4 years to get a medical degree, people have gone out there with B- from Kenya and came back to sit board exams are here among you treating patients in Kenya.
Part of the role of being a physician is offering reliable information to the public.
our goals are best achieved indirectly