Cuban doctors must learn Trini English

THE EDITOR: I was very happy indeed when I read on Monday August 18, headlined in a Newsday column that the Government had warned against complacency in the issue of the Cuban doctors. I took it to mean that serious business was intended and we had moved from the realms of speculation and possibility to actuality. I predict unconditional success in the venture. I will wait and see if others will do the same.

I know of some patients of Trinidad origin, who were successfully treated in Cuba for various ailments. The perception is that Cuban professionals are good practitioners. While the orientation of our friends is being given top priority, I advise that Trinidadian English, its jargon and colloquialisms, be taught with urgency. Perhaps a look at their medical curriculum and syllabus could be an advantage in making assessments. I would like to make the point that communication between doctor and patient is of maximum importance, if not vital. In this question, I have unbounded experience. The doctor who understands the patient’s problem via the medium of dialogue will treat that patient successfully. If the doctor is unable to grasp the intricacies of the complaint, he may have to resort to deeper means within his reach.

I have, on many occasions, left the doctor’s clinic happy and elated. This joyous feeling always having been attained by the pleasant disposition and humour dispensed by the physician. I hope the patients will receive the same pleasure and satisfaction from their conversations with our Cuban friends. I will certainly advise patients to endeavour as much as possible to appreciate the doctors’ good temperament and leave the clinic in a pleasant mood. It is my hope and prayer that our Cuban friends can, by patient understanding, provide some relief which will be improved by prescription and treatment. At the end of three years, their contracts will expire. Some will return home while others may obtain extensions. At any rate, if Trinidad and Tobago does not want to ever again find itself in the predicament which gave rise to the hiring of the Cuban doctors, we will have to take responsibility by offering more scholarships to nationals and by reducing the overall expense of those who have to provide their own means of support at university, thereby making the sum affordable.

Simultaneously, we may invite private firms, including banks, insurance companies, Petrotrin etc to help by offering scholarships. The medical field seems to possess a bright future. At the moment, the Minister of Health should give some consideration to the aged by adding newer medicines to the list of free medications. In this light I hasten to add “Alphagan,” popularly used by glaucoma patients, to the list. It is currently being sold on the market at seventy dollars for a five ml vial. We need help and ask for urgent considerations.

SALER AMEERALI
Chaguanas