Strategies for the inclusion of medical youth in decision-making in a developing country

December 28, 2021 by The Sting's Team 1 Comment

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Yessi Alcántara Lembert, a recent medical graduate from the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and Ms. Hellen Esbietlana Bello La Cerda is a fourth year medical student from Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. They are affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

Due to the need to create innovative changes in society to impact the global health, there has been an increase in youth involved in decision-making who want to see positive changes in society. As doctors-in-training in the Dominican Republic (DR), we understand that youth want to design strategies that promote innovation and transformation in global health.¹ As doctors in training we believe that higher education can play a fundamental role for youth to apply critical thinking as an agent of change and get involved in health decision making. The future of society is in its youth, so it is important that they receive national support, taking into account the proposals of projects for improving the health care, and medical students are a fundamental part of that change.²

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports that the education system in the DR has significant limitations across all tier levels, which hinders high-quality academic and research training and impacts students’ future contributions to good health governance practices.³Part of the change is related to the educational system, but developing countries, such as the DR, present a low educational index. One of the strategies to include doctors-in-training in decision making is the modification of the medical curricula where they are given student participation in proposals for change. The second strategy that we propose is reinforcing critical analyses of scientific articles and their comprehension for future medical practice by which young medical doctors in training can participate in the change in global health from their country of origin.

To address this challenge for doctors-in-training, the DR Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MESCyT) can incorporate evidence-based content, supervised by physician-scientists, into medical curricula. This can highlight user-friendly and gratuitous platforms to high-quality scientific references to be used in student scientific research articles. Likewise, establishing a national investment fund for clinical research²can provide financial support to physician-scientists across DR public and private institutions. This can encourage DR medical students to seek career advancement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields and pursue research training.

Emphasizing evidence-based medicine and research in global medical education is fundamental to fulfill the national commitment to strengthen physicians’ training to see a change of the future to benefit the community with youth involved in positive societal changes. Implementing strategies that increase medical students’ exposure and understanding to ensure high-quality, evidence-based teaching is crucial for countries to achieve health promotion and policy-making activities, laws, rules, regulations or decisions to accomplish the strategic goals and objectives of global health. We consider that youth is tomorrow’s future, so we urge that our suggestions and strategies be taken into account when making decisions that directly or indirectly affect the interests of youth.

References

Nittas, V., Buitrago-Garcia, D., Chetty-Mhlanga, S. et al. Future public health governance: investing in young professionals. Int J Public Health 65, 1521–1522 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-020-01521-0
Oyewole BK, Animasahun VJ, Chapman HJ. Increasing research productivity across Africa. MEDICC Rev 2019;21(2–3):75–76.
Clark N. Higher Education in the Dominican Republic: International mobility and the challenges of expanding domestic provision. World Education News & Reviews 2013;1-2. https://wenr.wes.org/2013/10/higher-education-in-the-dominican-republic-international-mobility-and-the-challenges-of-expanding-domestic-provision.

About the author

Yessi Alcántara Lembert is a recent medical graduate from the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She served as the Local Officer of the Standing Committee on Professional Exchange (SCOPE) (2014−2016) and currently participates as an active member of ODEM-Dominican Republic.

Hellen Esbietlana Bello La Cerda is a fourth year medical student from Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She served as the Local Officer of the Standing Committee on Public Health (SCOPH) (2020) and currently participates as an active member of ODEM-Dominican Republic.

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Countries adopted on Saturday a new global blueprint for tackling rapidly evolving forms of crime, as the UN’s largest gathering on crime prevention and criminal justice opened in Abu Dhabi with a call for stronger international cooperation. The Abu Dhabi Declaration was adopted by acclamation at the opening of the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, bringing governments together around challenges ranging from cybercrime and fraud to the growing criminal exploitation of digital technology. The Declaration highlights an increasingly complex landscape in which services, infrastructure and technology can be exploited by criminals, including emerging trends described as “crime as a service” and “violence as a service”. At the same time, countries committed to making greater use of technology themselves, including by digitalizing justice systems and harnessing artificial intelligence in criminal justice responses. The Declaration stresses that safeguards must accompany those changes, including human oversight, transparency, due process and data protection. ‘Justice cannot be a privilege’ In a video message to the Congress, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said the meeting was taking place at a time of profound change. “Justice cannot be a privilege. It must protect every person, uphold every person’s rights and leave no one behind,” said Ms. Mohamed. “This Congress is an opportunity to renew our shared commitment to justice and the rule of law, and to translate that commitment into action.” Countries are already being encouraged to put the Declaration into practice through the voluntary Pledge4Justice initiative, under which participating governments are announcing concrete, time-bound actions on crime prevention and criminal justice through 2031. The Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre with its curved glass tower and surrounding buildings reflected in calm water at dusk. UNODC The Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre where the 15th UN Crime Congress is set to take place. From Kyoto to Abu Dhabi Opening the Congress, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director Monica Juma framed the gathering as both a response to a changing criminal landscape and a test of international cooperation. “Today, the world convenes in Abu Dhabi to reaffirm that the rule of law and criminal justice are essential to the safety and security of people and the planet,” said Ms. Juma. “At a time when confidence in multilateralism is faltering, let Abu Dhabi be a testament to international cooperation.” Five years after the previous Congress in Kyoto, Japan, Ms. Juma said the world had reached another “inflection point”, with technology and artificial intelligence advancing at extraordinary speed. The same platforms connecting billions of people can also connect criminals, she warned, while digital currencies can conceal illicit profits and digital tools can be used to deceive, manipulate and exploit. Technology, she argued, is not simply accelerating crime but changing its character, while organized criminal networks increasingly exploit weaknesses across borders and institutions. Tweet URL Protecting people as the ‘north star’ Behind those broad trends, Ms. Juma urged delegates to focus on the people most exposed to harm, including children recruited by gangs, women facing violence at home or online, people unable to obtain legal assistance and young people lured into scam networks with promises of a better future. “Protecting these people must be the measure against which we judge our efforts over the coming week,” she said. “It must be our north star.” She called for laws and institutions capable of keeping pace with changing threats, greater access to justice and legal aid, and technology that serves as “a force for good” rather than an accelerator of harm. And while welcoming the Abu Dhabi Declaration as a starting point, Ms. Juma stressed that its impact would ultimately depend on implementation. A week focused on justice Hosted by the United Arab Emirates, the Congress runs through 1 October under the theme Protecting People and Planet in the Digital Age. Some 119 countries are represented, alongside more than 40 justice ministers and other senior officials, with over 5,100 participants from governments, civil society, academia and the private sector. Plenary meetings, workshops, side events and exhibitions will run throughout the session. Organizers are also billing this as the most youth-inclusive Crime Congress yet. Young people are participating in workshops, contributing to follow-up efforts and taking part in a dedicated Youth Lab and art exhibition, following a Youth Forum held ahead of the Congress on 24 and 25 September. UNODC serves as secretariat of the Congress and will support implementation of the Abu Dhabi Declaration.

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