Lukashenko in favor of more practical training of Belarusian medics
It is necessary to step up the practical training of medics. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko gave the relevant instruction at a government conference held on 23 May to discuss the most pressing healthcare issues, BelTA has learned.
An interagency workgroup made of medical specialists instead of government officials had been previously established upon the instruction of the head of state. The workgroup travelled all over the country and many of the negative facts pointed out by the general public have been confirmed. Head Physician of the Republican Clinical Medical Center Irina Abelskaya was in charge of the workgroup. She noted that the workgroup had encountered insufficient professional expertise of some medical workers. In her opinion, a pro forma and indifferent approach to post-graduate education and training of specialists of medical universities is one of the reasons.
The president asked for a clarification: “Do you mean that universities and [the Belarusian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education] BelMAPO work poorly?”
Irina Abelskaya said: “Certainly, I cannot unambiguously say they don't work well. A lot depends on the motivation of students and medics, who attend courses and how many times these courses are held.” In her words, it is necessary to revise, update training programs for specialists and the knowledge assessment processes. “I don't think any specialist, who have completed training or advanced training courses, gets a non-passing grade or gets expelled as a result of an exam. The same applies to students of medical universities, especially those, who are admitted as part of employer-sponsored education schemes,” she remarked.
It is also necessary to step up the practical training of specialists, Irina Abelskaya stressed. “It is impossible to learn modern technologies, which are bolstered by purchases of expensive medical equipment, if you simply stand next to the operating table and watch,” she said. “It is necessary to polish practical skills. And we hope that a national simulation and qualifying examination center will be commissioned soon after all to allow our specialists to polish practical skills.”
The head physician pointed out: “The training of specialists of practical healthcare should proceed in educational applied science centers where fresh thoughts and knowledge go hand in hand with modern theoretical and practical skills. And it is necessary to reinstate on-the-job training. It used to exist in the past. This legalized form of advanced training doesn't exist now.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “I'd say: only on-the-job training. It will offer both theory and practice because, to put it bluntly, nobody knows more about the theory and practice of transplantology than [Director of the Minsk Applied Science Center for Surgery, Transplantology and Hematology Oleg] Rummo. I mention ‘Rummo' as a general term. He has a team of guys, who know more theory and practice [than anyone else in this field]. Why do you have to gather them in a school classroom or a university classroom and get them to give a lecture? Who can talk about transplantology better than Rummo's team?”
Written by belta.by