There is a dire need for sufficient erudite medical doctors and specialists, particularly those from native Papuan communities, at health centers and hospitals in the provinces of Papua and West Papua.
Teluk Wondama, W Papua (ANTARA) - The University of Papua (Unipa) in Manokwari, West Papua Province, is aiming to produce 100 graduated young doctors in 2025, Dean of Unipa's Faculty of Medicine Siti Farida stated.

At the working meeting on special autonomy, held in Teluk Wondama, the capital of Teluk Wasior District, on Monday, she noted that 22 of the 31 medical schools’ first batch of students would graduate on Nov 29, 2019.

"Five others will graduate in 2020," he revealed, adding that Unipa's Faculty of Medicine was founded in 2014 and currently has 179 students. Fifty one percent of the existing students are native Papuans.

In this year's admission, 60 percent of the 47 students are native Papuans. The percentage of native Papuan students that the medical school receives since its foundation in 2014 tends to increase steadily, Farida stated.



Farida remarked that the availability of allocated funds from special autonomy sources for Unipa since 2018 facilitated conducting operational activities, such as inviting teaching staff of the University of Indonesia (UI) Faculty of Medicine to teach at Unipa.

The special autonomy funds also finance the availability of required facilities to educate medical doctors, she remarked, adding that Unipa, in cooperation with UI and the regional governments, had been supporting the existence of its medical school.

There is a dire need for sufficient erudite medical doctors and specialists, particularly those from native Papuan communities, at health centers and hospitals in the provinces of Papua and West Papua.

The deadly rioting in Wamena on Sept 23, 2019, which prompted several doctors to flee this capital city of Jayawijaya District, Papua Province, over security concerns, has created a deficit of native Papuan doctors.

On Sept 26, the Papua provincial government's health office had deployed 24 paramedics, including an orthopedic specialist, anesthesia specialist, and surgeon, to assist their colleagues at the Wamena public hospital in tending to victims of this week's rioting.

The hospital was urgently seeking medical doctors after its 10 staff members, traumatized by the impact of the deadly rioting, sought emergency evacuation to Jayapura, Secretary of the Papua Health Office, Dr. Silvanus Sumule, expounded.
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Translator: Toyiban, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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