Forty years of postgraduate medical training at the University of Papua New Guinea

ABSTRACT

@#SUMMARY BACKGROUND: Forty years after the first postgraduate diplomates (in child health and obstetrics & gynaecology) graduated in 1976 it is appropriate to track the development of postgraduate training and to assess training outcomes. METHODOLOGY: Data were extracted from graduation documents from 1976 and were checked with senior academic staff and with the current postgraduate lists. RESULTS: Postgraduate diploma programs in anaesthesiology, ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology followed those in child health and obstetrics & gynaecology. The first home-grown specialists in surgery and child health graduated in 1979 and the MMed program is now offered across the spectrum of medical disciplines with the exception of cancer medicine. Of the 344 postgraduate diplomates, a third have been females and 41 (12%) have been Pacific islanders. 166 (48%) have completed MMed and 56 (16%) are currently in the MMed programs. Since 1979, 378 specialists have graduated with the MMed and 3 with the MDS, of whom 21 (6%) have died and 2 have retired on medical grounds. 74 (19%) of the specialists are female and 40 (10%) are Pacific islanders. Of the 322 living Papua New Guinean (PNG) national specialists currently working 70 (22%) are female, 23 (7%) are currently based overseas, 30 (9%) are working in the private sector and 9 (3%) are no longer working in the medical arena. 260 (81%) are in the public sector, 240 (75%) in the clinical area and 20 (6%) in the administrative area. 22 surgical specialists and 1 anaesthesiologist have completed subspecialty training through the Higher Postgraduate Diploma programs. Other disciplines will follow suit. 12 PNG doctors have obtained overseas Fellowships or Membership of their specialty Royal College. Only 3 are currently based in Papua New Guinea. Master’s programs in community health and public health (27 graduates) were introduced in 1987, medical science (16 graduates) in 2006 and pharmacy (3 graduates) in 2012. CONCLUSION: The postgraduate programs at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Papua New Guinea have been highly successful in training clinical specialists for Papua New Guinea and Pacific island countries, and in producing a core of the health workforce with Master’s degrees in public health, medical sciences and pharmacy. Loss of the specialist workforce overseas has been relatively small.