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.