Doctors need more courses: Mufunda

DEAN of the School of Medical and Health Sciences at Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) Professor Jacob Mufunda said adding more courses for medical students will be beneficial across the entire spectrum.

He was speaking at the doctors conference held in Mutare. Matters raised included the addition of more courses to the medical curriculum to ensure doctors and other medical practitioners were well-versed with the business side of medicine.

“This is an excellent idea, which has already been gradually taken on board over the years.

“It is critical for additional exposure to innovation, entrepreneurship and group practice to the training of medical doctors, in order for them to survive in the competitive business environment out there.

“The emphasis on additional courses is not only necessary but mandatory not just for private practitioners but for those in the public sector where broader exposure and expertise in management and medical law, as well as financial management, are success factors for practitioners,” he said.

Prof Mufunda said the students at his university were working on authenticating rural and traditional medicines. “This range of observations gives room for some practitioners to use some herbal medicine for conditions they are not intended for.

“The doses of some herbal medicines are not specified, giving room for side effects from too much or no effects or too little of the medicine. The practitioners should not just know the use of a herbal medicine but also have some idea of how the herbal medicine works.”