Linking undergraduate medical education to primary health care

Under graduate medical education aims at producing doctors who are competent in preventive, promotive and curative knowledge and skills. The community medicine curriculum in All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi has been designed with this objective in view. Students are given community oriented training in urban and rural settings whereby students are taught to carry out various activities under the guidance of faculty members. This curriculum has evolved over many years and provides ample exposure to the students to understand the health problems, and health system of the country especially at the primary and secondary level. There is a sequential teaching of community medicine, which starts from fourth semester through internship. Successful training in community medicine lies outside the walls of the department and the involvement of other partners like the community, health systems etc contribute largely.     

One approach to improving indigenous health care through medical education

ABSTRACT: The present paper discusses some of the issues relating to the poorer health and shorter life expectancy of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The barriers to improvement include funding of the medical service, the nature of early contact between Indigenous peoples and the European settlers, and the complex nature of Indigenous cultures. The role of the new medical school at James Cook University is discussed in relation to its mission of meeting the health care needs of the population of tropical and rural North Queensland. Indigenous representation in the management of the Medical School, staff selection, student selection, and curriculum content are discussed, and recommendations are made for a partnership approach to achieving improvements in the functioning of the health system of the area.     

Post-graduate medical education in training health care managers

Contemplations over the training of a modern healthcare manager are reflected in the article; the key organizational and methodological aspects of such training are analyzed; program-based measures related with personnel management are defined; training modules on training the healthcare personnel are designated; the experience and promising trends, as implemented in the above sphere by Semashko's Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, as well as new program "Head Doctor of the 21st Century", offered by the department of academic educational programs of the People's Economy Academy of the Government of the Russian Federation, are discussed.     

Changing emphases in public health and medical education in health care reform

Globalisation of economies, diseases and disasters with poverty, emerging infectious diseases, ageing and chronic conditions, violence and terrorism has begun to change the face of public health and medical education. Escalating costs of care and increasing poverty have brought urgency to professional training to improve efficiency, cut costs and maintain gains in life expectancy and morbidity reduction. Technology, genetics research and designer drugs have dramatically changed medical practice. Creatively, educational institutions have adopted the use of: (1) New educational and communication technologies: internet and health informatics; (2) Problem based learning approaches; Integrated Practice and Theory Curricula; Research and Problem Solving methodologies and (3) Partnership and networking of institutions to synergise new trends (e.g. core competencies). Less desirably, changes are inadequate in key areas, e.g., Health Economics, Poverty and Health Development, Disaster Management & Bioterrorism and Ethics. Institutions have begun to adjust and develop new programs of study to meet challenges of emerging diseases, design methodologies to better understand complex social and economic determinants of disease, assess the effects of violence and address cost containment strategies in health. Besides redesigning instruction, professional schools need to conduct research to assess the impact of health reform. Such studies will serve as sentinels for the public's health, and provide key indicators for improvements in training, service provision and policy.