Imagine that your five-year-old child swallows a fish bone which is stuck in his/her throat. Or your two-year-old child accidentally stuck his/her eardrum with a sharp object and it is now bleeding. You live in Belmont, so you rush your child to Port-of-Spain General Hospital.
On arrival, you are told that the ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) Department does not manage cases under the age of 12. Exasperated, you rush your child to Eric Williams Medical Sciences complex, Mt Hope. Once more, you are told that they don't manage ENT emergencies, so you have to take your child to San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH).Similarly, your 64-year-old uncle develops noisy, difficult breathing. You live in Tunapuna, so you rush him to Mt Hope hospital.
There, you are told that there are no ENT doctors on call, so your uncle must be urgently transferred to San Fernando General Hospital.You get the trend–PoS ENT doctors don't see children, and Mt Hope ENT doctors do not handle emergencies. Now, it is established. All emergency/paediatrics cases Throughout T&T–from Tobago to Toco to Cedros are treated at San Fernando General Hospital.
The doctors in the ENT Department at San Fernando exhibit extraordinary dedication, in going beyond their call of duty regularly, often working 32 straight hours in addition to their usual 7-4 workdays, because of the tremendous workload.Needless to say, their experience and expertise are unparalleled. They run three operation theatres and three clinics per week. Whereas PoS and Mt Hope each run one clinic and one theatre per week, sometimes less (with limited patients and no emergencies).
Can you imagine how limited their knowledge and skill must be?Thankfully, training for ENT surgeons at UWI, Trinidad, was instituted last year. Interviews for admissions this year were held on last Thursday. 14 candidates appeared for interviews–two from Barbados, and 12 from various hospitals in Trinidad.Yesterday it was announced that two candidates were selected each from SFGH, PoS and Mt Hope.
Now tell me, why weren't more San Fernando candidates considered, especially since they're undoubtedly more skilled and manage patients from across the country?Three extremely competent doctors from SFGH were rejected despite their superior ratings–preference being given to unexposed doctors with limited clinical knowledge from other hospitals. Is this fair?
How can doctors be trained at departments that are dysfunctional? Would you trust doctors who are trained with such limited clinical exposure?Shouldn't individual capability be assessed? Are there no relevant criteria for selection?Why are the SFGH ENT doctors being prevented from attaining the degree they rightfully deserve?
Disenchanteddoctor
SFGH