In an interview with Diario Libre, Public Health Minister Altagracia Guzman Marcelino says that medical training for Dominican doctors needed to be improved with an increased emphasis on tropical diseases. The minister mentions that she has been meeting with deans of medical schools to discuss the need to change the curriculum.
“Our universities have to rethink their curricula, because they are in a tropical country, so everything that has to be done to tackle tropical diseases has to be the number one priority, and this starts with clinical training for medical students,” said the Minister in the interview.
Guzman Marcelino said that the implementation of a Single Medical Competencies Examination would exert pressure on medical schools to train better doctors. She says this will also ensure that the graduates have an epidemiological profile that is appropriate for the country.
She said that many patients go to the doctor twice, and when they return, they are in a serious condition. “That means that they did not receive the correct treatment,” said Guzman. In her opinion, if the primary care level were in operation, the dengue problem would be resolved.
The minister said that she was most concerned about the fact that people were dying from a disease that is treatable. She says that inadequate handling by doctors and patient care are the main factors behind the high death rate in the country. She pointed out that in Honduras, where there have been more than 40,000 cases, there has not been one single death. In Peru, where there have been 38,000 cases, there have only been three or four deaths. She mentioned that of the deaths analyzed, 31 were diagnosed and treated as dengue, but were actually malaria, leukemia or septicemia and the patients died.
Meanwhile, as part of the new measures being taken to stop the spread of dengue, National Health Service director Dr. Ramon Alvarado Mendoza said that 3,600 people were being trained to travel around the country on the last weekend of every month and work with the regional health services to implement dengue prevention campaigns to eliminate mosquito breeding places and educate people on how to recognize and treat the disease.
http://www.diariolibre.com/opinion/dialogo-libre/salud-publica-atribuye-alta-letalidad-por-dengue-a-debilidad-en-formacion-medica-BN1807614
http://www.diariolibre.com/opinion/dialogo-libre/el-examen-unico-de-competencias-medicas-formara-mejores-galenos-MN1807592
Gobierno iniciará en enero programa permanente contra el dengue