Doctors in Barbados are taking flight and looking for opportunities outside of the Country as it continues to reel under the pressure of a recession and a shortage of positions for medical doctors at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
According to reports, internship coordinator with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital said that there is no room in the hospital for doctors. According to Dr. Clyde Cave, thirty (30) internship positions have been filled but doctors may have to look for jobs elsewhere.
Cave said “For around the 30 interns or so interns who have already completed their internships, there were only around two to three jobs available”, he lamented. He made his remarks as he welcomed the new interns into the fold of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the island’s lone public hospital.
According to Cave there is now a problem with doctors being able to get positions for work after graduation.
He also suggested that doctors working in the general medicine were more likely to end up with part-time work since that area invariable required more experience.
Interns have to sit US qualifying exams
To this end, he said doctors may have to look for opportunities overseas. Only recently, the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies had assured all of its students including those in the medical faculty, through its Principal, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, that the University would provide a safety net for all of its students. At the moment, the Barbados government has indicated that as 2014, tuition fees in all areas at the University will not have to be paid. According to the Principal, this has resulted in a catastrophic reduction in admissions with some students wishing to also drop out and other not bothering to apply. The UWI has now reopened its admission to attract students while Banking and other institutions are offering low payment loans to potential students.
“It is extremely difficult for them, most are being asked to sit American qualifying exams so they can look for work in the US…I think it is very sad that we have invested so much money for their training and so much time and resources and then there are no jobs for them when they are finished”, he said.
Fewer men interested in medicine
The interns will rotate their internships in medicine, surgery, obstetrics & gynaecology and paediatrics.
Cave also voiced concerns about the low number of men enrolling in medical study. He indicated that while there was a small increase in 2013 by just two male interns, generally men are no longer interested in medicine as a field of study.
“There is a concern as to why males are not choosing medicine, or not being eligible to get in or not being successful in completing”, he said. He indicated that this, however, was a worldwide trend that needed further examination.
