Assistant Medical Officer

Assistant Medical Officers are health care providers in countries like Tanzania and Malaysia. They work independently or with limited supervision of a physician to provide healthcare services to largely underserved populations.[1]

They are also called "surgical technologists" (or técnico de cirurgia) in Mozambique,[2] clinical associates in South Africa,[3] or "assistant medical practitioner" (AMP, formerly "native medical practitioner" or NMP) in Fiji.[4] They are grouped under "paramedical practitioners" in the International Standard Classification of Occupations, 2008 revision.[5]

Contents

Training and practice

Tanzania

Qualified clinical officers who pass a government entrance examination undergo a further two-year training program to become Assistant Medical Officers. They can then enroll in another two-year program to specialise in anaesthesia, paediatrics, radiology or surgery.

With at least 8 to 10 years of medical training and experience, Assistant Medical Officers are regarded as equal to MDs and the two are used interchangeably.

The Assistant Medical Officers program, which combines theory and clinical training, is offered at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre[6] and Ifakara Training Centre for International Health.[7]

Assistant Medical Officers perform routine and emergency surgery including 80 percent of Caesarean sections done in Tanzania.[2]

Malaysia

Assistant Medical Officers complete a three-year Diploma in Medical Assistant (DMA) undergraduate program recognized by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency. The DMA students study the human body; how the systems, e.g. cardiovascular and respiratory systems, work in normal and diseased states and how they relate to medicine. They also learn pre-hospital care, community health, disaster management, orthopedics and surgery. The final year of training involves clinical placement in hospitals and health clinics.

Government colleges that offer the Diploma in Medical Assistant program are:

These are under the health ministry's training department.[8] Private colleges include:

DMA graduates register with the Medical Assistant Council (Lembaga Pembantu Perubatan)[12] before being appointed into service.

Assistant Medical Officers diagnose and treat common ailments, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventive health care, assist in surgery, manage medical/surgical emergencies, and write prescriptions.

They often work in places with no medical officers.

See also

References

  1. ^ Mullan F, Frehywot S. "Non-physician clinicians in 47 sub-Saharan African countries." Lancet, 2007; 370:2158–63.
  2. ^ a b Kruk ME et al. "Human resource and funding constraints for essential surgery in district hospitals in Africa: a retrospective cross-sectional survey." PLoS Medicine, 2010; 7(3): e1000242. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000242
  3. ^ SouthAfrica.info. Mid-level health professionals for South Africa http://www.southafrica.info/about/health/clinical-associates.htm, accessed 15 March 2011
  4. ^ Fiji School of Medicine
  5. ^ World Health Organization. Classifying health workers. Geneva, WHO, 2010.
  6. ^ Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Tanzania.
  7. ^ Ifakara Training Centre for International Health, Tanzania.
  8. ^ Malaysia Health Ministry Training Department
  9. ^ Kolej Islam Sains & Teknologi
  10. ^ Management and Science University
  11. ^ Kolej Universiti ShahPutra
  12. ^ Malaysia Health Ministry Medical Assistant Council

External links