The Liberia College of Physicians and Surgeons (LCPS) Secretary General Dr. Stephen Kennedy says on Monday, 29 October, LCPS will be putting out the second batch of graduates of 15 persons.
Speaking Thursday, 25 October at the Ministry of Information, Dr. Kennedy revealed that LCPS’ first batch of graduates last year included 13 specialists.
As for the new batch of graduates, he says they were trained to be specialists right in Liberia.Dr. Kennedy explains that LCPS specializes in six fields of study, which include general surgery and gynecology, among others.
According to him, 47 percent of the 15 Doctors that will be graduating are females; unlike last year when females were 25 percent of the graduates.Dr. Kennedy discloses that LCPS intends to have 60 specialized home – trained Doctors within five years, further indicating that each county will have about four specialized doctors.
Dr. Kennedy says he sees gradual improvement in the health sector here, recalling that when they started LCPS few years back, there were about 200 Doctors in the country.But he indicates that Liberia now has about 400 Doctors, noting that there is an improvement in all the indicators of the health sector.
“Few years back the ratio of a doctor to the population was 1: 15,000 persons of the population and now it is 1: 10,000 persons of the population. We are still hoping that the number of Doctors increases to the people in the country,” Dr. Kennedy explains.
Meanwhile, Dr. Kennedy has reported that Liberia has sent out 17 Doctors to specialize in fields that are not being offered at the LCPS. He acknowledges that government gave LCPS some money which according to him was invested in human capital.“We will not always use foreign Doctors to train our doctors. Those doctors that we are sending out of the country will help train others when they come back,” Dr. Kennedy concludes.
By Ethel A. Tweh–Edited by Winston W. Parley
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