Pride of a thousand tribes

EDUCATION

By GELINDE NAREKINE
HISTORY has proven time and time again that a society’s greatest natural resource is its people. And its success depends heavily on how they are nurtured and cared for.
As such, a nation’s ability to thrive is intricately linked to our health. It is not sufficient to have only an educated and well trained workforce. Rather, physical and mental well-being are equally necessary for productivity.
The training of Papua New Guineans as health workers goes back to the early 1930s when the country was still under Australian administration. The first 12 Papuans were sent to Sydney in 1933 to learn about the structure of the human body. Then, from the mid-1940s, Papua New Guineans were sent to the Central Medical School in Fiji to train as doctors, thus, graduating with a Diploma in Medicine and Surgery. That was certainly a strategic undertaking at that time, which paved way for more positive developments.
Over the past five decades, many training institutions have been established, including universities that have also commenced training programmes for health professionals. Nevertheless, University of Papua New Guinea’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences, still remains the premier institution for educating, training, and graduating specialist health professionals in Papua New Guinea, and even in the region.
What we now know as ‘School of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Papua New Guinea’, was initially, the Papuan Medical College. The college was founded in 1959, followed with full establishment in 1962 at Taurama, just behind Port Moresby General Hospital, at the very location where the school now stands. It was the first health workers’ training institution in the then, Territory of Papua and New Guinea.
The college was tasked with the responsibility to train health professionals including, medical doctors, pre-service nurses, medical assistants, laboratory and x-ray technicians, medical orderlies, nurse aides, physiotherapists, and even pre-school teachers.
Medical graduates received a Diploma in Medicine and Surgery whilst the others received certificates in their respective fields of training. By the end of 1970, the Papuan Medical College had produced 44 medical doctors.
Following establishment of the University of Papua New Guinea in 1965, the Papuan Medical College became its Faculty of Medicine in 1971. It drew its initial motivation almost entirely from the achievements of the college. Despite its extended medical training into multiple specialties, the faculty was built on structures of the Papuan Medical College that existed at that time.
The first medical students graduated in February 1973 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). The first graduating class comprised four expatriates and only one Papua New Guinean, who eventually, was the first national to become professor of medicine.
From that humble beginning, 318 medical doctors have graduated by February 1989. We now have well over 1,700 locally trained national doctors that make up approximately two-thirds of the total number of doctors in the country.
It would be worthy to make mention that Professor Sir Isi Kevau was that first Papua New Guinean to graduate from the University of Papua New Guinea with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. He is truly a remarkable and an exceptional living legacy of what was, is now, and that which will become of this outstanding institution, in terms of training and graduating medical doctors and other health professionals in Papua New Guinea, in the not-so-distant future.
In the early 1990s, what was formerly the College of Allied Health Sciences, administered by the National Department of Health then became the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Papua New Guinea. With the decline in government funding in the late 1990s, the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Health Sciences were merged into the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Through such exercise, our national institutions serve as our unifying factor, and a force that continues to bring Papua New Guineans together.

In 2000, the University of Papua New Guinea went through a restructuring process. The implementation of the restructure in January 2001 resulted in the change of name from ‘faculty’ to ‘school’. With that, what was then the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, now became the School of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Papua New Guinea. It was further tasked with the responsibility of training in medicine and surgery, nursing – post-basics, dentistry, pharmacy, diagnostic imaging, and medical laboratory science.
Since the Papuan Medical College days, the institution went through a number of significant transitions to eventually become the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. In July 2010, the school celebrated the 50th years of this great institution’s history. It was surely an impressive journey starting from a humble beginning to what it has become.
We have certainly come a long way to be where we are now. The next few years into the future hold promising prospects for another significant transition for better and bigger things yet to come.
Presently, the School of Medicine and Health Sciences comprises several divisions and conducts a number of undergraduate and postgraduate degree and diploma programmes.
The major divisions are: Clinical Sciences – with disciplines of Anesthesiology, Child Health, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Psychiatry, Rural Medicine, and Surgery, Basic Medical Sciences – with disciplines of Anatomy, Biochemistry, Physiology, and Pharmacology, Pathology, Public Health, Dentistry, Nursing, and Health Sciences – with disciplines of Pharmacy, Medical Laboratory Science, and Medical Imaging Science.
Since its establishment, this institution has always been driven to be the premier medical and health services training institution in the South Pacific region, equipping future leaders in health services with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to meet the health needs of the nation’s rural and urban communities.
With that vision, the programmes have been developed to provide a comprehensive and caring learning environment that encourages student growth in knowledge, expertise, and ethical practice relevant to the building of a healthy and robust society.
Thus, in order to meet the increasing health needs in Papua New Guinea and the region, the School of Medicine and Health Sciences has been increasing its intake of medical students and all other health worker categories over the years. It has also consistently maintained a high quality learning environment, with a special emphasis on preparing its graduates for work in rural areas.
The physical infrastructure may not look as attractive as that of other universities around the country. But if we are simply judging the book by its cover, then we are certainly mistaken. As a matter of fact, this institution’s track record of producing some of the best and the finest health professionals in Papua New Guinea and the region, is unparalleled.
In saying this, we do not wish to undermine contributions to nation development that other institutions have made and will continue to do so. What we are expressing here is that sense of pride, of being an integral part of something special, an entity of honor, a lifesaving essence of our society, and a dynamic endeavor of change. This is what we hold close to our hearts now into the future.
What began as the Papuan Medical College to now, the School of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Papua New Guinea, would eventually become Papua New Guinea University of Medicine and Health Sciences. When that actually happens, it would be the first stand-alone university in the region fully committed to educating, training, and graduating only health professionals. It is surely a journey full of aspiration, and of national pride and identity.
The School of Medicine and Health Sciences is a great story, not only for the University of Papua New Guinea but, also for the nation as a whole.
And so we will continue to tell that story. A story, not only of challenges, hardships, failures, and disappointments, but of faith and courage, to overcome and to prosper. It is about dreaming the dream and walking the talk, to pursue an endeavor to serve our people, our land, and our nation of a thousand tribes – Papua New Guinea.

• The author is a technical officer in the discipline of Medical Laboratory Science, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Papua New Guinea