role of national medical education in Kuwait

ABSTRACT

This study highlights the role of national medical education in the promotion of medical manpower. This was emphasized through tracking the development in the size and professional structure of the main category of the Kuwait national health care delivery system, the physicians, throughout the years 1996 to 2001. Data were ascertained from three sources Department of Vital and Health Statistics and Department of Manpower, Ministry of Health for data on physicians, and Department of Statistics and Information Sector, Ministry of Planning, Kuwait for data on population. The study revealed increasing trends toward employment of Kuwaiti female physicians, employment of Kuwaiti physicians to upper and lower ranks, and rarity of Kuwaiti physicians in some specialties, such as anesthesia. The study emphasized the role of national medical education in increasing the number of Kuwaiti graduates. Moreover, the study highlighted the apparent influence of KIMS in enhancement of higher medical specialization training programs as witnessed by the predominance of Kuwaiti physicians in the leading job categories. Besides, the study generated essential information required for planning the qualitative and quantitative pattern of the higher specialization programs