First aid skills gap for young docs

Dar-es-Salaam. As Edward Lwidiko nearly comes to the end of his five-year training as a medical doctor later this month, there is one thing at the top of his mind:

“My medical school curriculum has not made me a complete doctor,’’ he says.

One who thinks the 24-year old medical student at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) sounds ungrateful for drawing that conclusion about the top medical school in the country, needs to think twice. Why?

A panel of judges recently declared Edward top winner for his novel research findings about young doctors who graduate without adequate skills to offer basic life support or first aid to accident victims with traumatic injuries in even minor emergency situations.

Edward won the hearts of the judges at a recent annual scientific event in Dar-es-salaam where hundreds of medical students from all over the country had gathered to showcase their research findings under the theme: “Learning with the purpose to handle the challenges in the health sector”.

The event, dubbed ’’ Win-and-Learn’’, was aimed at gathering students from various disciplines in the health sector to present their findings, with an anticipation of winning an award. To him, the best topic for research had to be on “The ability of undergraduate medical students in Tanzania to offer First Aid”.

According to the research, in which 500 medical students from five Tanzanian medical colleges were interviewed, it has been discovered that up to 64 per cent of students in some of the universities think that their colleges do not provide enough training on how to offer first aid.

‘’I am a victim of this lack of knowledge,’’ said Edward, in an interview with The Citizen on Saturday recently.

‘’One day’’, he told this writer in response to a question over what prompted him to undertake the research, ‘’I suffered great embarrassment. I was commuting in a mini-bus along Morogoro Road when an old man seated next to me suddenly lost consciousness and fell from his seat.

‘’To be frank, I merely watched like any other onlookers, unable to offer any assistance. There was no difference between me and those who have never seen the inside of a medical school.”

Edward then realised it was time to find out whether he was alone or not. His latest findings have proved that the problem is replicated in most of Tanzania’s medical schools, especially those he included in the study (including his own, MUHAS).

Science is peppered with stories of discovery, with some of the biggest breakthroughs coming from seemingly everyday occurrences. One of the oldest and well-known tales in scientific history revolves around a legend related to the ancient mathematician Archimedes, which is popularly known as “Eureka.” That happened at a moment when Archimedes discovered the principle of buoyancy while taking a bath, about 2,000 years ago.

However, medical students, who are indeed some of the important young scientists in Tanzania, have not been forthcoming when it comes to undertaking research activities, according to Mr Simon Lawrence, chairman of the Win-and-Learn Initiative.

In other words, most science students today, do not emulate the zeal that is, or was possessed by senior scientists whose research findings have changed the world, and in this case, the mode of healthcare delivery.

‘’We face tough times when organsing such events because not all students are interested in research activities, ’’ Mr Simon told The Citizen on Saturday.

To tackle the challenge, the Win-and-Learn initiative idea was conceived by medical students at MUHAS about eight years ago, with the objective of getting students on board with more meaningful, entertaining as well as competitive learning, rather than just for passing exams.

‘’Medical students who have taken this programme seriously, have gone far. Their research papers have won them chances to present their findings at international conferences held by the National Institute for Medical Research,” says Mr simon.

‘’Their articles are also published on-line by the South Africa- based Africa Journals Online (AJOL) for further recognition,’’ he adds.

This year’s Win-and-Learn event, which is the 8th in a series since the project kicked off in 2006, gathered medical students from Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College(KCMC), the Mwanza-based Catholic College of Health and Allied Scinces, International Medical and Technological University(IMTU), Hubert Kairuki Memorial University(HKMU) as well as MUHAS. It takes place annually at MUHAS