Dr. Julio Amado Castaños Guzmán, rector of the Universidad Iberoamericana (Unibe) and president of the Patronato del Hospital General de la Plaza de la Salud, says the time has come to be more selective in who gets to study medicine in the Dominican Republic. He suggests only individuals with extraordinary qualifications should be admitted to the medical schools. He criticized the open admission policy of most medical schools and says this policy is why the level of the qualified graduates is so low. He said this has serious consequences, and mentioned the high mortality in the country.
Most medical student applicants are admitted to the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. In most cases, students do not pay for their studies at the state university. Around 25,000 to 30,000 are enrolled in the medical school at the UASD. Private university enrolment is at around 5,000.
Castaños said the focus need to be on quality, not quantity. He said that to get into the Unibe medical school, students must pass a rigorous assessment beyond grades. He remarked the selection of future doctors needs to be based on varied competences including communication skills, knowledge of new technologies, empathy and the ability to see patients as people first..
He points out that these aspects are currently not being considered “Anyone who stands in the admission line and registers, usually without a single test, or assessment, gets in, and we are seeing the results of this”, he points out.
He said the time has come for training more family doctors than specialists.
19 February 2019