The Dominican Association of Faculties and Schools of Medicine (ADOFEM), held a meeting last Thursday, September 29 at the Northeast Catholic University (UCNE), hosted by Dr. Brunel Santos, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences of UCNE and Ramona Mercedes, director of the School of Medicine of that institution.
During the meeting, Dr. Santos motivated all the deans and directors of the country’s medical schools to work together and consider that the specialization programs, medical residencies and continuing education, have only the endorsement of local universities and the National Council of Higher Education, Science and Technology, so they should be reviewed.
The importance of the agreement reached with the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) to enact smoke-free spaces in medical schools was also addressed, as was the forthcoming attendance in Buenos Aires of the president of the Pan American Federation of Associations of Faculties and Schools of Medicine FEPAFEM, Dr. Marcos Núñez Cuervo, also dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Ibero-American University (UNIBE), together with Dr. William Duke, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU).
In addition, Dr. José Nicolás Pimentel, assistant dean of ADOFEM, urged the board to continue working towards improving and strengthening medical education through work at the national and international levels.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Daniel Rivera, Minister of Health, Santiago Hazim, Executive Director of the National Health Insurance (SeNaSa) and Olivier Ronveaux, representative of PAHO in the country, as well as a delegation from FEPAFEM. Also, a joint visit was made to Dr. Franklin García Fermín, head of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MESCyT) to discuss future agreements.
Regarding postgraduate and medical residencies, ADOFEM emphasized the need to strengthen educational programs endorsed by universities, so they will continue to work joining the National Council of Medical Residencies to update regulations and documentation with the country’s 11 Health Sciences Faculties.
All these are in anticipation of the upcoming visit of the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions (CAAM-HP), to process the international accreditation of local Medical Schools. The next schools to be visited will be those of UNPHU and the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) in November.
