Who is a doctor?
A medical doctor is a professional who practices
medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining, or restoring health
through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury, and other
physical and mental impairments. A medical doctor can simply be referred
as a doctor or physician. This is a person who has submitted in a the requirement
for the award of a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree, in a
Medical College or Medical School, accredited to a university. According
to Wikipedia, Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, has a root in Latin:
Medicinae Baccalaureus et Chirurgiae Baccalaureus is
abbreviated as M.B.Ch.B. in many countries.
What is Medicine?
Medicine is the science or the practice of diagnosis,
treatment and prevention of disease.
What is surgery?
Surgery is the branch of medicine that treats injuries,
deformities or disease by operation or manipulation.
What is medicine and surgery?
God recognizes doctors because they form an extension of His
healing grace to His people. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a
person who was very sick, hardly able to walk going back home happy again
because the doctor has done his job. The doctor’s life
is celebrated by everybody because every one of the seven billion
people on earth at one time need a doctor's hand. However the doctor's job
requires a lot of sacrifice in terms of time, leisure, socials to help the sick
get back to life and go about their business. This goes along with the
Hippocratic Oath doctors take to take on that job.
1.1 The ability to help hurting people and their families
Students want to be doctors because they cherish being counted for
enabling hurting people afford a smile again. Some students feel they are both
sympathetic and empathetic and are driven by this energy to think out a
solution.
1.2. Ability to recognize those better than you
One unique thing about doctors is their ability to recognize
people better than them and suppo
rt them. They may consult them but most importantly they refer
patients to them at no commission. It is a common ‘disease’ amongst many
humans, to pull down someone better than them. Such student does not fit in the
medical fraternity and should not even vey for medicine.
1,3. Ability to work overtime where emergencies arise.
A student who wants to study medicine must be ready, sometimes, to
work beyond the stipulated time for the good of others and at the expense of
his/ her family and private time. This includes working night schedules,
overtime, on public holidays and over the week ends.
1.4. Ability to perform so well in Biological sciences
The student must have the interest and ability to score so highly
in all subjects. In addition the student must be willing to continue with
biological sciences at advanced level which form the bedrock of medical or
health sciences. The biological sciences include biology (B) and
chemistry (C) as cores supported by either physics (P) or
mathematics (M) as relevant subjects. The three subject
combination for medicine (majors) is either PCB or BCM as
major subjects. Students are also required to minor in two subjects; General
studies registered as General Paper (GP) for
all candidates and either subsidiary mathematics (Sub Math) for PCB candidates and
candidates taking BCM, subsidiary information
Computer Technology (ICT)
1.5. Ability to remain a student after finishing studies
After graduation, the doctor is expected to continue studying in
order to keep abreast with new discoveries in the medical world. This is
because new diseases keep coming up and new medicines come to the market whose
dosage must be understood. Keeping away from constant updates can be very
detrimental to the lives of the patients and threatens the fame of the doctor.
This is done through attendances of seminars, Academic research defenses,
symposia, workshops, conferences and through reading medical journals, text
books, visiting the internet and going back for further studies. A student, who
doesn’t want to read but wants to be a doctor, may merely be an irrelevant day
dreamer.
1.6. Respect in society
Because of the nature of their work, doctors and sometimes
trainees are accorded a lot of respect in any society. However they are trained
through their medical ethics to respect themselves because the whole society
respects their views. They are the only people recognized by International law
to take informed decisions on someone’s body including opening the ailing
bodies with surgical blades. Another reason they are respected in society is
because they persevere to study for more years (six to seven years) longer than
any other course known. Students who want to earn such respect must also be
ready to study for more years than others can try medicine and surgery.
1.7. Interpersonal relationships
Many
students love to be part of a successful team and just feed their passion by
working with people. Disease prevention, cure and management cannot be a one
man's show. Medicine requires a team work of different players on the stage
including doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians, pharmacists, the patients
and patient family/ caretakers, hospital administrator and support staff.
1.8. Ability to sacrifice one's feelings about people
The student should be willing to evolve a new outlook to human
being and forget internal human differences which cannot tolerate other human
beings. This is embedded in the Hippocratic oath which doctors swear before the
assume duty upon graduation. The oath holds demands that doctors dedicate their
lives to the service of humanity; the health and wellbeing of the patients
being their first consideration; to maintain the utmost respect for human life
regardless of age, gender, disease or disability, creed, ethnic origin,
nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, social standing,
or any other factors to intervene between their duty and the patient.
1.9. Confidentiality
The
student should learn the art of keeping quiet about many things about
people. Some findings about a patient's medical condition remains a top secrete
between the medical team and the patient, unless otherwise compelled by the Law
or granted permission by the patient. Students must learn to respect other
peoples' privacy and dignity.
1.1.0. Friendship formation
A student
aspiring to be a doctor must slowly develop friendship formation skills. These
skills are important as they slowly evolve into a healthy doctor-patient
relationship which is the first part of medicine.
2.0. Preparation for long holiday (Vacation)
It can be
an honor to use part of the holiday working as a volunteer at a nearby medical
facility, which may be a private clinic or hospital. This can enable the
medical student in the making to acquaint himself with some experience of the
future job. Observation of what goes on in here may cause a demerit to the
vacationist that leads to withdrawal. It is better for a person to ship out and
take time to look for something else that brings joy and peace of mind. On the
other hand, the patient environment may build empathy, sympathy and
responsibility that motivates the vacationist to confirm reasons for aspiring
for the medical program.
3.0. Job opportunities
Upon
completing studies, one qualifies as a doctor and can work in a variety of
places including the following:
a) Hospitals
b) Medical
Research institutes
c) Public
Health Care Units
d) Multinational
organizations like The International Red Cross, World Health Organization (WHO)
e) Can
engage in sponsored research projects on the tests of a new drug or a new
disease, etc.
f) Can
lecture in medical training and Public Health Institutions
g) Can
work with Private Health Insurance Companies
h) Can
operate a Private Medical facility like a clinic or hospital.
i)
Can work with the Ministry or department of health
j) Can
work with a traveling team in disaster pronounced world as a
doctor- without-boarder
k) Can be part of a voluntary community a medical team which
travels around the communities treating people in their communities and
teaching about disease prevention
l) Can
participate in the training of medical officers in medicals schools and
colleges
3.1. Job
Security
a) In Uganda,
the Medical officer to Patient ratio is not yet there. Kamwesiga J.
(2011) gives ratio of Health worker to
Patient as follows:
- Doctor
to Patient Ratio is 1:24,000
- Nurse
to Patient Ratio is 1: 1,700
- Dentist
to Patient Ratio is 1:77,000
- Midwife
to Patient Ratio is 1: 9,000
- Lab.
Technician to Patient Ratio is 1:16,000
(Source: UGANDA HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, Community and Home based Rehabilitation Course)
Doctors in Africa:
The NEED!
- Report by World Health Organization
(WHO)
WHO recommends a minimum threshold of 23
doctors, nurses and midwives
per 10,000 patients. This shows that there are many jobs waiting for
graduates in all medical
fields.
b) Doctors can work in any country in the
world, including in EU countries that
have forbidden or restricted employment of foreign
citizens. The restriction
does not apply to doctors because they specialize in
divergent disease
management.
4.1. Universities where Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (M.B.ChB.) is offered
4.1.1) In Uganda
a) Public
Universities
i)
Makerere University (Mak) - Public University
ii) Mbarara
University of Science and Technology (MUST) -
Public
iii) Gulu
University (GULU) - Public University
iv) Busitema
University (BUS) - Public University
b) Private
University
i)
Kampala International University School of Health
Sciences -
Ishaka, Bushenyi - Founded in 2004
ii) Habib Medical
School - Kibuli, Kampala - Founded in 2014
iii) St. Augustine International
University College of Health,
Medical &
Life Sciences - Mulago, Kampala - Founded in 2012
iv) International
Health Sciences University School of Medicine -
Namuwongo, Kampala - Founded In 2008
v) Uganda
Martyrs University School of Medicine - Nsambya,
Kampala - Founded in 2010
All the above mentioned Pubic universities offer
M.B.ChB. on government
scholarship which is very competitive. A few slots are available
for the
program on private sponsorship.
4.1.2) Outside Uganda
Usually students in Uganda
go to study Medicine and Surgery in universities
in the following countries on scholarship,
private sponsorship or Inter
Government Student
Exchange Program (IGSEP):
i) Tanzania (IGSEP)
ii) India
iii) Russia
iv) China
v) Kenya
vi) South Africa
A few students from very wealthy families go
for M.B.ChB. in European and
Canadian Universities.
N.B
In many universities, Medicine and Surgery is a Masters Degree
Program but not a Bachelors program like it is in
Uganda. This is true for many American universities
and the program is at a minimum of seven years. An aspiring medical
student first studies a first degree in a
relevant science field, including Human Biology,
Microbiology, Parasitology,
virology, Science (Bachelor of Science), etc
Your kind suggestions can be the only reason why
one student uses this resource to
build his/ her future as a professional who will bring a difference!
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