Indonesia to boost skills of primary care physicians

 19-Nov-15, The Jakarta Post

In a bid to upgrade the quality of medical staff in primary healthcare facilities, the Indonesian government and 18 universities around the country will begin providing specialized education to medical students and practitioners next year.

Image: Indoboom

The Health Ministry’s expert staff member for health services development, Akmal Taher, said on Wednesday that the government would train 300 community health center (Puskesmas) doctors throughout Indonesia in 2016.

There are 107,000 primary care physicians in the country at present, with the government estimating it needs 40,000 physicians to undergo training and education tailored specifically to primary health care.

18 universities will begin offering postgraduate programs in 2016/17 to train medical students in providing primary medical services, especially preventative measures, which will be the main focus of the government in coming years. 

By boosting the quality of primary care physicians, the government is expecting to see at least a 10% reduction in the number of patients in hospitals. Currently 31% of patients are being referred to secondary care, which causing "hoards of patients to swarm at hospitals".

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