training | Jislaaik.com

Allegations are being made that the ANC Free State paid more than R330,000 per student to study in Cuba to become a doctor.

This is more than double the amount it would have cost in South Africa, and the biggest problem is that the students did not graduate.

It takes six years to graduate as a doctor in Cuba, plus one year to be taken as a language course beforehand to master Spanish.

Initially, 211 students were sent to Cuba, 33 of whom soon returned to SA, but soon after, one perished in a street of the capital.

The training of doctors in Cuba differs from the training offered in South Africa, and experts warn that the doctors are not necessarily suitable for the service expected of doctors.

Shortening doctors’ internships from two years to one is being mooted to alleviate the strain in the training of doctors.

Health department spokesperson Popo Maja said: “What we know is that one of the health stakeholders did entertain the idea of internship training being reviewed. But it is too early for us to say anything about it.”

Two-year internships help medical students translate their theoretical knowledge into practice under the supervision of experienced doctors after their studies. One-year community service helps provide health care to under-served areas.

South African Medical Association (Sama) chairperson Dr Angelique Coetzee said there was currently a bottleneck, with too few internships to accommodate medical students graduating in SA and abroad, especially in Cuba.

“Where does one place that large amount of people coming in, plus these who you have already?” Coetzee said. “There is a big b
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Posts tagged with 'training'

ANC regime blows millions of rands on students to study medicine in Cuba – Costs amount to more than double the amount it would cost in SA

Doctors get a lifeline as government considers shortening internships from two years to one