Professional health bodies are increasingly decrying the quality of training by private schools.
The health sector in Cameroon is now plagued by a growing misunderstanding in the domain of training for medical practitioners. Various professional health bodies including dental surgeons, medical practitioners, veterinary doctors and pharmacists, have in the past weeks on different platforms castigated the alleged unethical and unprofessional training given by some private institutions in the country.
The onslaught that has continued over various media reached climax last February 14 when the representatives of the four bodies were granted a private audience at the Star Building by the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Philemon Yang. Speaking later in the afternoon during a press briefing, the President of the Cameroon Medical Council and spokesperson for the quatuor, Dr Guy Sandjon, disclosed that a memorandum had been handed to the Head of Government, requesting urgent measures to be taken to cleanse the sector in order to halt the proliferation of ill-equipped low standard private medical training institutions.
The memorandum, Dr Guy Sandjon explained, was inspired by resolutions of the general assembly meeting of the Cameroon Medical Council of April 1 to 2, in the seaside resort town of Kribi, South Region, on the theme, “Medical Training in Cameroon.” The medical practitioners proposed the suspension of authorisations to private higher education institutions, the setting up of an independent and qualified evaluation of their functioning and the closure of institutions that do not meet the requirements of a training institution, amongst others. They also recommended a national competitive entrance examination for all training centres, practical courses and the harmonisation of the training curricular.
On its part, government has made known its intention to continue the irreversible drive towards increasing training opportunities for a growing number of young Cameroonians interested in working in the medical field. In an interview with Cameroon Tribune on November 23, 2011, the Minister of Higher Education, Professor Jacques Fame Ndongo, affirmed the necessity to link Cameroon’s university offer to student demand. He further said the National Commission for Private Higher Education is presided by eminent university dons who rigourously study application files before authorisation is granted to any private promoter. The Minister assured that his ministry will oversee private higher education medical training to ensure quality, in line with the new University Governance.
