Post by Djedi Maaur on Apr 1, 2008 6:17:40 GMT -5
PROFESSOR: 'BAD APPLES' HURTING MEDICAL PROFESSION
Joel Julien
Trinidad Express
Monday, March 31st 2008 -- WORK doubly hard to transplant "nobility" back into the body of medicine, Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, (UWI), Prof E Nigel Harris said, as he begged both medical students and residents to become "selfless advocates for their communities".
Harris made the plea recently as he delivered the feature address in a ceremony to honour five founding members of the Para-Clinical Sciences Department, at the Faculty of Medical Sciences amphitheatre, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope. The five awardees, Dr Merle Balbirsingh, Dr Waveney Charles, Dr Lennox Jordan, Prof Hylton McFarlane and Dr William Swanston, were honoured for their sterling contribution in helping to pave the way for the Medical Sciences faculty's full undergraduate programme.
Harris said the time for making medicine "the noble profession" was now, as the public had become increasing cynical because there was the perception of tolerance of unethical and deceitful behaviour by medical professionals.
He said this was so because of the unwillingness by professional bodies to speak up against the few instances of poor health care and the inability to take action against those who perform below standard.
However, Harris said the situation was not peculiar to the Caribbean and the cure to the plague was for medical bodies to work with universities to enhance regulations and introduce systems to ensure greater adherence to professionalism. Harris added for the operation to be a success individual medical professionals also needed to practise "altruism" by putting their patients, interest above their own. In response, secretary of the Medical Professionals Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MPATT), Dr Shehenaz Mohammed, said the association was in full support of Harris's statement.
Mohammed agreed that "rogue elements" in the health sector must be dealt with in order to maintain the credibility of the medical profession.
She added the recent instances of bad publicity in the public health sector should be used to diagnose problems within the system and correct them.
Mohammed noted: "In order for evil to prevail, all that needs to happen is for a few good people to do nothing."
Harris described the five honourees as the type of "good people" the medical professionals today should try to emulate.
Pro Vice Chancellor and St Augustine campus Principal Prof Clement Sankar, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences St Augustine Prof Zulaika Ali and Head of the Para-Clinical department Dr Atheia Jones-Lecointe were among the number of medical professionals gathered to pay tribute to the honourees
Joel Julien
Trinidad Express
Monday, March 31st 2008 -- WORK doubly hard to transplant "nobility" back into the body of medicine, Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, (UWI), Prof E Nigel Harris said, as he begged both medical students and residents to become "selfless advocates for their communities".
Harris made the plea recently as he delivered the feature address in a ceremony to honour five founding members of the Para-Clinical Sciences Department, at the Faculty of Medical Sciences amphitheatre, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope. The five awardees, Dr Merle Balbirsingh, Dr Waveney Charles, Dr Lennox Jordan, Prof Hylton McFarlane and Dr William Swanston, were honoured for their sterling contribution in helping to pave the way for the Medical Sciences faculty's full undergraduate programme.
Harris said the time for making medicine "the noble profession" was now, as the public had become increasing cynical because there was the perception of tolerance of unethical and deceitful behaviour by medical professionals.
He said this was so because of the unwillingness by professional bodies to speak up against the few instances of poor health care and the inability to take action against those who perform below standard.
However, Harris said the situation was not peculiar to the Caribbean and the cure to the plague was for medical bodies to work with universities to enhance regulations and introduce systems to ensure greater adherence to professionalism. Harris added for the operation to be a success individual medical professionals also needed to practise "altruism" by putting their patients, interest above their own. In response, secretary of the Medical Professionals Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MPATT), Dr Shehenaz Mohammed, said the association was in full support of Harris's statement.
Mohammed agreed that "rogue elements" in the health sector must be dealt with in order to maintain the credibility of the medical profession.
She added the recent instances of bad publicity in the public health sector should be used to diagnose problems within the system and correct them.
Mohammed noted: "In order for evil to prevail, all that needs to happen is for a few good people to do nothing."
Harris described the five honourees as the type of "good people" the medical professionals today should try to emulate.
Pro Vice Chancellor and St Augustine campus Principal Prof Clement Sankar, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences St Augustine Prof Zulaika Ali and Head of the Para-Clinical department Dr Atheia Jones-Lecointe were among the number of medical professionals gathered to pay tribute to the honourees