Instead of mega airports, why not a graduate medical school for Sri Lanka? – Letter
View(s):Our politicians are masters in undertaking mega projects of no return on loan and increase themisery of the tax payer. Instead, can we think of projects that are self-sufficient from the start and give unlimited returns to the country? Here is one.
“I am 24 years old and have just completed a university degree in a national university. I have no job, but want to study medicine. I am not sufficiently rich to go abroad, but can afford a course fee in Sri Lanka. But, there is no opportunity. Why can’t I learn here and contribute to this national need, instead of becoming a housemaid in a foreign country?”
This is the outcry of many of our young capable citizens. Many countries offer graduate education programmes in medicine where scholars in other disciplines can join and enter the medical profession.
After 60 years of independence and despite having eight faculties of medicine, sadly, Sri Lanka is still short of doctors. There are a plenty of young able students in the country who want to study medicine but they have neither an opportunity nor a welcome if they did it elsewhere. The ‘slogan’ against them is that they are not ‘quality’ doctors. But the international evidence supports the opposite. The doctors qualifying via graduate medical schools are now considered to be equal or even better in service as they have joined at a mature age with a true passion for medicine.
Many developed countries offer an opportunity for mature students to enter medicine later in life. For example, a statistician becoming a medical doctor would be a great asset for much needed medical research. A graduate medical school would not only attract students from South Asian countries bringing in much needed foreign assets but also offer a great window of opportunity for the local graduates to seek foreign employment.
What is a graduate medical school? In general this is a compact course in medicine, designed to accommodate scholars giving credit for their transferable skills and competencies gained in other disciplines. They enter a graduate medical school after a qualifying entry examination such as UKCAT orGAMSAT, and complete a fast tracked 4-year degree. GAMSAT is designed to assess the capacity to undertake high-level intellectual studies in the medical and health professional programmes.
It evaluates the nature and extent of abilities and skills gained through prior experience and learning, including the mastery and use of concepts in basic science as well as the acquisition of more general skills in problem solving, critical thinking and writing. A graduate medical school is neither a threat to the existing undergraduate study programmes of medicine in Sri Lanka nor will it encroach upon the free education provisions. Since students will be self-funding their course fees, it is also not a national burden. They also need not compete for the local job market.
Graduate Entry Medicine courses were introduced back in the early 2000s in the world as a way of reducing the deficit of qualified doctors and rapidly training suitable graduates to achieve the standard MBBS qualification in Medicine and Surgery. They provide an alternative route into medicine for both those who realise later in life that they wish to become doctors and those who missed the grades for undergraduate entry.
A graduate medical school in Sri Lanka would be a national asset. It is also a move towards equality, a much needed foundation for social harmony. Would there be any politician seeking public office interested in promoting this national need in this election? Be warned, it has no commissions.
Chula Goonasekera Peradeniya
(The writer can be reached at cgoonase@sltnet.lk)