1989 is the 25th anniversary of the first doctors trained in Papua New Guinea at the Papuan Medical College (PMC). By the end of 1970 PMC had produced 44 doctors. The following year it became the Medical Faculty of the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG), which had graduated 318 doctors by February 1989. National doctors now make up approximately two-thirds of the total number of doctors in the country. The largest category of national doctors includes those working with the Health Department, but not at headquarters or specialist medical officer (SMO) level. Private practitioners constitute the second largest category, with almost one-fifth of fully registered national doctors. While postgraduate training programs have been established for clinical and public health specialists, vocational training for general practitioners has been mainly ignored. Private practitioners represent a considerable, and growing, manpower resource in urban areas, and ways need to be found to utilize their services in the public sector. 20% of national private practitioners have the M. Med. degree and 24% of those with the M. Med. are currently in private practice. Medical graduates from PMC and UPNG have a good record in postgraduate education: 37 have passed the M. Med., 62 have obtained a postgraduate medical diploma from UPNG and many have obtained overseas postgraduate diplomas and degrees. It is projected that 80% of SMOs will be national doctors within five years. An increased intake of national medical students into the Medical Faculty is needed now if most doctors in the country are to be nationals by the year 2000.
Education, Medical - history ; Education, Medical - statistics & ; numerical data ; History, 20th Century ; Medicine - statistics & ; numerical data ; Papua New Guinea

child ; Human ; Infant ; Measles - immunology ; Measles - prevention & ; control ; Vaccination

The maintenance of the effective functioning of peripheral health workers in isolated working environments has long been a subject of contemplation by health planners and managers. It depends on training, motivation and skill. This paper describes the development of an inservice training program for rural health workers based on the establishment of a core group of trainers in each province. Training of trainers utilized a combination of formal training, workshops, distance-learning techniques and regular on-site consultation.
Allied Health Personnel - education ; Costs and Cost Analysis - economics ; Inservice Training - economics ; Inservice Training - organization & ; administration ; Papua New Guinea ; Rural Health