Jf
The medical assistant is qualified to care for most primary health
care needs, including the more difficult situations that the health
assistants and community health workers refer to him.
A vital part of
his work is to provide supervision and continuing on-the-job education
for the health assistants in his atoll.
The medical assistant is to be
a full time and fully occupied employee who would have daily contacts
with each of the health assistants in his atoll and also daily radio
contact with the medical officer or medical doctor at the hospital of
his
area.
Such
radio
management of difficult
contact
cases,
would
provide
consultation
for
the
continuing education of the medical
assistant, supervision of the work of the medical assistant along with a
verification that he is on duty on a daily basis.
Daily radio contact
also provides a means of determination of need for and authorization of
routine transport or emergency evacuation for hospitalization for any
patient needing such care.
This prevents unauthorized transports or
evacuations and over utlilization of hospital services by placing the
final authority for transportation in the hands of the medical officers
at the hospital.
Medical assistants are also utilized to run the outpatient units of
the hospitals with consultation as needed by the medical officers or
medical doctors.
The training of the medical assistant usually includes an entry
requirement of completion of high school followed by one year of basic
science instruction and two years of practical clinical instruction in
hospitals and field clinics.
The recommended site of such training is
at the new campus of the University of the South Pacific which is being
established at the present time in Honiara, Solomon Islands with the
goal of providing mid level training in the areas of medical care,
education, and engineering.
Alternative training site is the medical
assistant program at the School of Medicine in Suva, Fiji.
Another
alternative is to reinitiate the "medex" training or develop a similar
training
program
in
the Marshall
advantages/disadvantages
students
to
of
this
Islands.
must
be
The cost effectiveness
weighed
already existing training programs
against
sending
sponsored by member
countries of the South Pacific Region that have experience and knowledge
of specific health needs of the South Pacific Islands.