Inspiring young doctors: the beginning of the change

(Nhia Moua, Unsplash)

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Mayumi Cavalcante Hashiguchi, a third year medical student of University Center São Lucas – UniSL from a small city of Brazil named Porto Velho which is the capital of Rondônia, a state in the north of the country, located in Western Amazonia. She is affiliated to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

Primary healthcare (PHC) is the health system’s basis and the gateway for doctors and medical students. It performs the first level of healthcare by involving outpatient services, prevention and intervention with the community. When well applied and evaluated, PHC has a significant amount of results as the decrease of diseases complications and hospital admissions.

In spite of being one of the most important topics on health area, PHC does not have a guarantee of good financial return as other specializations such as cardiology because it is not so recognized and valued. Unfortunately, it is a neglected area in the health system because most doctors want to work in specializations to their liking and start their careers. Hence, there are fewness qualified professionals working on PHC.

Another reason for the low amount of professionals interested in this area is the lack of investments provided by the government, especially in equipment and infrastructure. This is the scenario of Brazil and others developing countries.

The focus should be on how to inspire young health workforce to get a job on PHC and work for the community. A good beginning is to show the medical students the value of PHC by inserting them on this area, not to mention the consequences of an application in practice.

Furthermore, the secret beyond the garden is to have a good team-work with trained and deployed professionals who want to work for the community and want to promote a better future. Therefore, it is necessary to invest in transformative actions such as a better recognition to the PHC specialists.

Another relevant point is to listen to the community and balance the perceived needs besides put an expert in the management of the health establishment. In summary, the topics mentioned above should be addressed and taught. The change begins by teaching newly graduates how to work in PHC and how to be more empathetic to the local population, thus providing better health care.

About the author

Mayumi Cavalcante Hashiguchi, a third year medical student of University Center São Lucas – UniSL from a small city of Brazil named Porto Velho which is the capital of Rondônia, a state in the north of the country, located in Western Amazonia. She is a member of IFMSA-Brazil (International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations of Brazil) since the first half of 2017. She studies at a private university with a scholarship. When graduated, she dreams to be a neurosurgeon. Mayumi is a 20-year-old girl who loves to travel and is a compulsive reader.