EDITORIAL - Crisis in medical education

Nurses are leaving in droves for higher pay abroad. Doctors are studying nursing so they can join that growing army of Philippine nurses overseas. Medical schools are supposed to produce regular replenishment for those who have left. But now we are told that an increasing number of medical graduates are flunking board exams.

Who will be left to provide health care in this country? Only underqualified personnel, if the government does not move quickly to address what experts describe as a looming crisis in medical education. The nation has already seen the consequences of the departure of public school teachers for better paying jobs abroad. Faced with an acute shortage of teachers, public schools have been forced to hire educators whose lack of training and qualifications for the job show in the quality of graduates the schools churn out. The result is an alarming slide in the competitiveness of the nation’s workforce.

With the shortage of competent health workers, it’s not just competitiveness but lives that can be at risk. Getting adequate, affordable medical care is difficult enough in this country; only a handful of hospitals in Metro Manila can boast of world-class facilities and services. Prospects for producing more doctors are not promising. For many families, the cost of medical school is prohibitive.

About two decades ago, local governments started encouraging the private sector to set up medical schools to address the shortage of doctors and other health workers. Without proper supervision, however, the experiment has gone awry. The Philippine Regulation Commission reported that the passing rate in the medical board exams has been on a steady decline, with just over half of the examinees making it last February.

The government must conduct an in-depth study on how to improve the quality of education in medical schools. Those whose graduates have consistently failed the board exams must be shut down. When students invest so much time, effort and money to get a college degree, they expect to hurdle the board exams to launch their careers. Medical schools cannot be allowed to shortchange their students and leave the nation with an acute lack of health workers. Ignoring this looming crisis could have deadly consequences for the nation.