Training general practitioners for very remote areas

Abstract

The days of village general practitioners doing kitchen-table surgery are long over in the industrialized world. Nonetheless, a number of remote communities all over the world are still being served by generalists working in poorly resourced conditions. While computer-guided microsurgery is being performed by the members of a surgical team in London, the only general practitioner on Tristan da Cunha, one of the remotest islands in the world, may be preparing to operate alone on a woman with a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. What are the training requirements and skill mix needed for a generalist working in such a remote area?

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Notes on contributors

Chris Ellis

CHIRS ELLIS is a family physician from Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu/Natal South Africa and a lecturer at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine. He is currently Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the University of the United Arab Emirates.