INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT
OF CHILDHOOD ILLNESS PRE-SERVICE TRAINING IN GEORGIA
Pagava K
Tbilisi
State Medical University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Objective: To receive preliminary evaluation data about
the efficacy of the teaching of the Integrated Management of Childhood
Illness (IMCI) principles in medical students.
Methods: The investigation was performed in the students (n=182) of the faculty
of general medicine of the Tbilisi State Medical University. IMCI Georgian
version is under construction. Because of this the students have been
taught only the principles of the IMCI (duration - 2 days) in the period of
clinical clerkship after passing of the exam in pediatrics and before their
final graduation exams. The investigation included filling out of the special
questionnaires (self-reported evaluation of the IMCI teaching course) and
comparative analysis of the results of pre-tests and final tests.
Results: A positive tendency of decision-making ability in the students has
been revealed. It was most evident in connection with correct (non)
administration of antibiotics, correct definition of emergency cases and
referral of patients to the next health facilities. The students noted high
usefullness of the course. According to them the course must be not less than
10 days in order to get fluent with necessary skills.
Conclusion: Preliminary evaluation
of the teaching of IMCI principles to medical students shows its certain
efficacy. It is supposed that performance of the whole course will
contribute significantly to the implementation of this comprehensive
approach in the child health care system and thus improve mortality and
morbidity rates.