Health officials showcase jobs in medical field
Belize’s health care system has come a long way over the last few decades and while most of us are aware of the improved services–both public and private–we may not have noticed that the medical field today offers a wide range of rewarding employment opportunities.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
As part of activities leading up to Friday?s World Health Day, a Health Career Fair was organised for primary and secondary school students. According to organisers, the idea is to publicise the variety of medical job opportunities in the country.
Loraine Thompson, Technical Advisor, P.A.H.O.
?World Health Day this year is going to springboard a whole decade of attention to improving human resources in health. And so we felt that one important activity that we can do is to carry out a health career fair that will showcase the careers in health that are available in Belize and that are needed.?
Technical Advisor of the Pan American Health Organization, Loraine Thompson, says Belize suffers from several chronic issues in the health sector.
Loraine Thompson
?There are problems of people who have been trained, who migrate to other countries; there are problems of not enough new entrants coming into the health fields; we have problems of a lack of key posts or a lack of position of health that are not filled and in some cases, where we don?t have qualified people; we have problems of distribution in some cases. We have a lot of doctors in the country, but a lot of them are concentrated in Belize City and less in the rural areas. And so those are the kinds of issues that we are looking at.?
Ryan Gentle is a student of the University of Belize?s Medical Laboratory Technology Programme. For the eager apprentice, the health field is extremely rewarding.
Ryan Gentle, Medical Laboratory Technology Program, U.B.
?You can branch off, it?s a wide scientific area and you can branch off and do other stuff in it. It?s fun; you look for organisms?I like to refer to it as the culprit causing the infection or the illness and so you have a chance of identifying what?s affecting the individual and so you can help the individual to stay healthy and stuff like that. It?s wonderful, it?s a good career. It?s health-wise and it?s the best.?
Officials hope that the information dispersed over the next two days will inspire others to explore their potential in the growing field of medicine.
Visitors at today?s event also received free blood pressure and sugar tests.
Today’s event tool place at the University of Belize campus on Freetown Road. The official ceremony commemorating World Health Day in Belize is scheduled for nine on Friday morning.
