FIJI National University’s College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Postgraduate Diploma in Surgery student, Dr Salesi Akauola, is among 16 participants undergoing a mandatory ‘Early Management of Severe Trauma’ (EMST) course at the Pasifika Campus, to upgrade their skills in managing patients in a systematic manner.
Dr Akauola, originally from Tonga, said the course was helpful and relevant to the work he was involved in.
“I want to learn more about how to manage injured patients in emergency situations. This course is very helpful because we are practising situations that I do not come across in normal circumstances,” he said.
“The more we practice such situations on this course, I will be better prepared when I do come across similar cases in reality.”
Senior surgeon Dr Basil Leodoro from Vanuatu is one of the course instructors.
“The aim is to train our postgraduate students who are doing emergency medicine, surgery and anesthesia to be trained in early management of severe trauma.
“We would be looking at people who get into accidents on roads, get injured with machines or have broken bones, those sorts of injuries. This training will provide the students with skills to be able to look after these patients when they come to emergency departments,” Dr Leodoro said.
“These youngsters will go back to their home countries with the skills they gain, which is a critical part of their training at the college.”
According to him, a lot of skills were being passed on to the students by the experienced local, regional and international instructors.
