Medics from the ethnic people groups of Burma come from a wide educational background. Some have started university level work while others have only passed the 6th grade. A few have had extensive field supervision. Others have had only a few months of lectures’ based training. Increasingly, this diversity has emphasized the importance of establishing standards for medics.
Towards that end the Free Burma Rangers has now established a medical school inside Karen state for beginning medics, The Jungle School of Medicine – Kawthoolei (JSMK). Most of the students are FBR medics but several are from other community organizations.
2014 is JSMK’s fourth year of operation. The one-year program uses supervised clinical interactions and a problem-based curriculum to teach medical fundamentals. In the morning students take care of patients both in the clinic and in-patient hospital. Competent supervision is critically important as students begin to assume responsibility for patient care. To do this, students are divided into groups with supervision by a junior staff member. The junior staff members are in turn monitored by senior staff members. Foreign doctors and nurses are on site as much as possible providing consultation, guidance and encouragement. In the afternoon, students attend more formal lectures based on a problem-based curriculum. This means that lectures in anatomy, physiology, disease processes, diagnostic decisions and treatments are all organized according to common problems that patients present with in the field.
Currently, JSMK has 20 students enrolled in the 2014 class.
Ancillary services at JSMK include ultrasonography, diagnostic X-ray, microscopy (TB testing, malaria smears, gram stains, WBC counts) and a few simple other lab tests (hematocrit, pregnancy, HIV, Hep B, Blood type and cross and urinalysis). In addition to improving patient care, these imaging and lab tests teach students how to become more accurate at taking histories and performing physical exams. During the 2013 calendar year, a total of 278 patients received treatment in the JSMK hospital and 1221 patients were treated as outpatients. A limited number of selected patients were referred outside the area for health care. To date, JSMK has responded to three outbreaks in the area (2011 – Influenza, 2012 – Dysentary, 2013 – Pertussis).
The school enjoys the support of 13 surrounding villages, a community hospital committee and many grateful patients. The hope is that this model will be useful in other areas of Burma as well.
One patient’s report was: “I came to JSMK and received good care. I was so thankful that I could be treated there and did not have to go to another country for care.”