Providing Excellent Medical Education in a Resource Constraint Environment - Research Paper Example

? Providing Excellent Medical Education in a Resource Constraint Environment: The Case of of Cape Coast Medical School College: Date: Abstract The provision of high quality healthcare services in an efficient manner is fundamental in maintaining a healthy nation. The main challenges within the framework of the provision of these services include the funding available and the number of professionals. This research aims at evaluating the quality of medical education in a resource constraint environment: The Case of University of Cape Coast Medical School. From the findings, on average students attended medical labs at least twice per week in the central region hospital, with the number of medical labs expected to increase after completion of a medical lab project funded by Airtel Ghana. The computation of population growth in the University of Cape Coast shows that the number of students has increased by 25% since 2008. Providing Excellent Medical Education in a Resource Constraint Environment: The Case of University of Cape Coast Medical School Introduction Health education is a fundamental element in any nation that has the will to meet the required medical standards for its citizens. In the global scope, there has been an outcry about the need for fully equipped medical facilities as a strategy to reduce the mortality rate. In Africa, health is a major concern given the shortage of medical resources that is evident in this continent. One of the weapons that have been grabbed to wage war against health problems in Africa is proper health education at all levels of education. The universities particularly have been burdened with the role of providing quality medical education in order to equip future professionals with the skills to manage the scarce resources that are present in these economies, in order to come up with concrete solutions to the problems at hand. In Ghana, medical challenges are severe despite the government efforts to increase its budgetary input in the health sector. The University of Cape Coast Medical School is one of the schools that have fought the war against health crisis by employing effective teaching strategies in the medical education curriculum Background Information The world health statistics indicate that there has been an upsurge of health concerns in the global arena owing to the shortage of resources especially in the third world countries (Iserson, 2011). Consequently, there is an increase in the death rates, which has become a great threat to the economy of these countries. This has triggered researchers to investigate the possible causes of this trend in the health sector in an effort to devise effective mechanisms to reduce and, if possible, eliminate health problems across the world. Despite the effort of most African governments to increase their financial allocation to the health sector, there is still much that has to be done to take care of the ever increasing population characteristics. For instance, the government of Ghana has increased its health budget in the past ten years, but the condition remains stagnated. This calls for more effective long-term measures to contain this problem in all capacities. Kabene, Orchard, Howard and Soriano (2006) developed a model approach to health sector reforms after examining the global issues affecting health programmes. In their model, they pointed out that only a management approach would yield effective medical care in most developing countries. Apart from the financial resources, another crucial element in the management model is an effective medical training that is meant to ensure that expertise and professionalism are optimised in health management. The essence of training is to equip the medical professionals with management skills to help utilise the scarce resources that are available in the medical sector (Iserson, 2011; Walsh, 2010). The University of Cape Coast in Ghana is one of those that have embarked on excellent medical training as the ultimate solution to the health crisis evident in this country. In a press release in Ghana, the Ghana Medical Association outlined numerous challenges that are evident in the health sector. One of the problems is the numerous strikes that have been launched by medical professionals in an effort to alert the government on the poor medical conditions evident in the country. In addition, the medical costs have gone so high that affordability has become another major concern for the Ghanaian nationalists (Iserson, 2011). In essence, the problems in the medical sector is a problem that requires a research driven solution, which is the objective of this research study Problem Statement The health of a nation determines the mortality rate in that nation, which has a direct effect on the productivity of its economy. Shortage of medical resources is the ultimate cause of poor health conditions in most states, specifically in most developing countries. Apart from lack of adequate financial resources, there is a shortage of adequate medical personnel with the skills to manage the scarce resources allocated to the medical sector. Research has shown that expansive education programmes should be established in tertiary universities in order to equip students in this specialty with adequate skills and knowledge. However, research on the extent to which this strategy has been implemented has not been carried out. The essence of this research paper is to investigate to what extent tertiary institutions have responded to the shortage of medical personnel in the health sector. Hypothesis of the Study Resource constraint is the main cause of poor medical facilities in Ghana. Medical schools have not provided adequate solutions to the shortage of professionals in the medical field. Objectives Main Objective To investigate the effectiveness of measures put in place to achieve excellent medical education in a resource constraint environment. Specific Objectives To identify the level of expansion of the University of Cape Coast Medical School To examine the quality of education in the University of Cape Coast Medical school Literature Review There is a widespread shortage of medical personnel in the society especially in the third world countries. In Ghana, poor medical standards are evident in areas of mental care and maternity care units. Previous research has found that there is a shortage of medical professionals in the world. For instance, Kabene et al. (2006) have stated that the demand for medical professionals in the world has not been satsified. Increasing the number of quality health personnel will supress the human resource shortage that has been pointed out as a major drawback in the health sector (Walsh, 2010). The Consortium of Universities for Global Health provided a report that indicated that the problems in the health sector emanate from resource constraints in most countries. In this regard, the consortium indicated that the most essential resources in the health sector can be broadly categorised into physical capital, consumables and human resources. The physical capital refers to the essential medical facilities such as medical labs and diagnosis equipment, while the consumables are the medicine required in the health institution. On the other hand, human resources refer to the qualified doctors with the essential skills to facilitate the treatment procedures. Researches have arrived at a conclusion that the best strategy to eradicate health crisis is providing adequate resources in the health sector. Many scholars have reached a concession that the only way to curb shortage of professionals in the medical field is to invest in quality medical education and to expand the tertiary education institutions in order to ensure that the shortage of doctors is offset (Brysiewicz, Chipps & Mars, 2012). Expansion of educational programmes can be measured by evaluating the university student intake over a period of time. Quality of education, on the other hand, may be measured in terms of the experiences that the students acquire from school laboratories (University of Cape Coast, 2013). Previous researches that have been conducted have paid attention to qualitative analysis, which has been criticised as unreliable due to its susceptibility to human experience. This research will integrate both qualitative and quantitative skills in order to come up with unique results. Methodology In this study, both qualitative and quantitative approaches will be employed due to the associated merits of a mixed approach method (Dunning, Williams, Abonyi & Crooks, 2007). To measure the elements of quality in medical education, the average number of laboratory sessions per week in the curriculum will be computed as a measure for the experiences that the students acquire from school. Questionnaires will be prepared and handed to laboratory technicians of Cape Coast Medical School. In addition, the school population statistics will be taken for a period of five years. A qualitative approach will involve personal interviews with students in order to identify their perception and knowledge of the community problems. The assumption of this study is that knowledge of community problems has a direct relationship with the solution to these problems. Quality of Studies Expansion of Medical School Management course Student population Laboratory experience The variety of courses being offered Curriculum development Expansion plans Results and Findings In this study, it was found that on average, students attended medical labs at least twice per week in the central region hospital. The number of medical labs is expected to increase after completion of a medical lab project funded by Airtel Ghana. The computation of population growth in the University of Cape Coast shows that the number of students has increased by 25% since 2008. It was found out that there were future plans to expand the school, but financial constraints were frustrating these plans of this expansion programme. The students benefited from a community based strategy that the school had developed to enable students to interact with the community in order to learn the medical problems in the society. The medical school departments had reached a total of thirteen departments, of which all offered different courses in an effort to produce professionals in all medical fields. The departments had started a new curriculum to include management courses within the ordinary course list. Conclusion From the results of this survey, it is clear that University of Cape Coast has expanded in the last five-year period; the number of students and the number of professional courses offered have increased noticeably. The inclusion of management courses within the curriculum is a positive stride forward, which will see the professionals learn to manage the limited resources available in the third world countries. Although the school has shown a great effort in providing a laboratory to the students by partnering with the central region hospital, there is a shortage of adequate facilities to serve the increasing population of students. Also, the population growth of students in this university is low considering the market demand of medical professionals. The efforts of expanding this population by the school seem to have been frustrated by economic constraints. The finding of this research study is a reaffirmation of the hypothesis put forward in this study. Recommendations The expansion of University of Cape Coast Medical School has been faced with economic challenges. In this view, the school should partner with more hospitals in order to provide adequate practical skills to the students in the course of their studies. This will assist the school in increasing its yearly intake without compromising its quality of education. In addition, it is recommendable for this institution to seek more government funding in order to enable it to reduce its school fee for the purpose of attracting more students in the system. It could be wise if the school started its own hospitals to provide medical services to the community. This will be not only an income generating project but also a source of practical knowledge for students. References Brysiewicz, P., Chipps, J. & Mars, M. (2012). Effectiveness and feasibility of telepsychiantry in a resource constraint environment. Retrieved from < http://www.ajop.co.za/Journals/July2012/Effectiveness%20and%20feasibility.pdf >. CIO East Africa. (2011). Airtel Ghana supports Cape Coast University, School of Medical Sciences. Retrieved from http://www.cio.co.ke/news/top-stories/Airtel-Ghana,-supports-Cape-Coast-University,-School-of-Medical-Sciences. Dunning, H., Williams, A., Abonyi, S. & Crooks, V. (2007). A mixed method approach to quality of life research: A case study approach. Social Indicators Research, 85(1), 148–158. Iserson, K. (2011). Improvised medicine: Providing care in extreme environments. London: McGraw-Hill. Kabene M., Orchard C., Howard H. & Soriano, E. (2006). The importance of human resources management in health care: A global context. Human Resources for Health, 4(6), 20–22. doi: 10.1186/1478-4491-4-20. University of Cape Coast. (2013). School of Medical Sciences. Retrieved from . Walsh, K. (2010). Cost effectiveness in medical education. UK: Radcliffe Publishing. Read More