By Doh James Sonkey
Members of the National Commission for Medical, Pharmaceutical and Odontostomatological Training in Cameroon met at the 11th session last June 20, 2023 at the Cameroon University’s Network and Digital Development Supervision Center.
Chaired by the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education and Chancellor of Academic Orders, Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo the session was attended by the Representative of the Minister of Public Health who is the Vice-Chairperson of the Commission, the Rector of the University of Yaoundé 1, the Representative of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buea, Representatives of the partner administrations, Deans of the Faculties of Medicine and approved Private Institutes of Medicine, the Presidents of the National Orders of Health Professionals (Doctors, Pharmacists and Dental Surgeons).
Members resolved to welcome the level of implementation of the recommendations that sanctioned the 10h session and invited all stakeholders to further combine their efforts and pool their intelligence, with a view to aligning Cameroon’s medical training establishments with international standards of quality assurance, Given the visible and remarkable efforts made by the Government in the training of health professionals (doctors, pharmacists and dental surgeons) through the Support Program for the Technological and Professional Component (PRO-ACTP) and considering the need to strengthen the employability of graduates in order to respond effectively to the legitimate and growing aspirations of populations for better medical care, the Commission recommends that the Ministry of Public Health proceeds with an assessment of the absorption capacity of graduates from medical training establishments in Cameroon, that the Commission mandates the ad-hoc commission which assessed medical training establishments in 2012 to carry out an endogenous qualitative assessment of medical training since the reform, before any initiative aimed not only at increasing the number of open places for the National Aptitude Examination for Medical Training, but also and above all, to accredit new establishments or new training programs.
Other resolutions included that, the Commission invites medical training establishments to systematically develop procedural manuals, in order to protect themselves against any administrative and academic malfunctions likely to affect the training of health professionals, with a view to the efficient implementation of the high instructions of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, the Commission asks all the heads of medical training establishments to take all necessary measures, with a view to the systematic delivery of end of course diplomas to graduating students, it reiterates its desire to see the MINESUP-MINSANTE platform reactivated, under the supervision of the two Ministers, in order to address all the concerns raised by the two ministerial departments concerning both training and professional practice. ln particular, this platform has been given a mandate to take all the necessary measures to ensure the adequacy between the place of practice of the profession of doctor and that of the University teacher, that a working group responsible for examining the methods of operationalizing the high instructions of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, regarding the opening of an emergency medicine specialty in the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University of Yaounde 1 is set up.
Created by Order No. 055/PM of June 10, 2013 of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, this Commission is essentially responsible for issuing technical opinions on the quality of training for health professionals in public and private universities in Cameroon, in order to consolidate the academic, technological and professional quality in medical training structures.