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| Dr Nzume Gilbert Nkwelle |
Dr Nzume Gilbert
Nkwelle you are a General Practitioner and have been running EJED Medical
Foundation for the past 17 years. Give us a brief history of your outfit.
The Foundation was started in 1978 by my late Dad Dr Nzume of
blessed memory. He started it purely as a clinic. When I came in 1996 after my
studies in Italy, I had worked in PAMOL from 1991 to 1996 when I came to join
my father. I tried to see that I put something new. What I brought in was the
training of auxiliary nurses. I prepared those who would go in for training in
the Government schools so I was giving them hands on experience and medical
knowledge that would give them an advantage in writing the competitive exams to
become nurses. In 2001-2002, the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training
started encouraging me to convert it into a training school. They came in to
tell me that I should make it an official school.
What kind of staff
makes your activities possible considering the quasi absence of specialized
health personnel in the country?
First of all the EJED Medical Foundation is a General Practice
Clinic where we employ nurses of different categories. We have midwives,
surgical nurses, and in the domain of facilities we have a laboratory, and a
theatre where we offer major and minor operations. My experience has shown me
that the nursing field still needs people who are specialized in certain
different aspects. I find that in
Cameroon for instance when a person tells me that they need somebody to take
care of their relative at home I know they need a nurse who will know about
geriatrics that is taking care of the old. We also need nurses who are capable
of administering treatment under the supervision of senior nurses. Here we
provide facilities in the School of Training of Vocational Nurses, Nursing
Assistants and Laboratory Technicians because we know that there is need to
continue training those who are grounded in good knowledge in diagnostic
facilities in our laboratories. Here we have very qualified teachers most of
them who have had Bsc and some Msc degrees because I want to be sure about
those who train my students. There are also those who have had years of
experience in the profession who are also helping to train. They have been
inspired and produced a wonderful plan modified from that provided by the
government. The Ministry of Employment had advised us to form an Examination
Board.
What are the kinds of
examinations that students who leave your institution take part in?
Here in Kumba, we have a Board called the Meme Board for
Health Personnel. In this Board, all the schools which are training Health
Personnel have come together to form this board which tests the students at the
end. So we have examinations which are done internally in every department and
we have a final exam. We also have a general exam organised by the board. As
such you get an attestation from the department in the school and another from
the Board for having passed their examination. This is how we do to make sure
that those who leave here are well armed to face the professional challenges.
Who are those whom we
expect to come to EJED Foundation?
First there are the vocational nurses who have replaced what
we used to call the nurse aids. We are giving opportunities for those with
First School Leaving Certificates FSLC to also find a place to learn what they
like. Those with the GCE ordinary level enter to train as Nursing Assistants
and Laboratory Assistants. This gives an opportunity for those with the GCE
Ordinary Level be it in Science or Arts to study. If you are of the science you
find it easier but for the arts, we don’t limit you because you are put on a
programme that permits you to have a background in everything. We are also
giving opportunities for those with the Advanced level if they chose to do
Nursing Assistance however, with the Advanced Levels we advise that you do but
the Higher National Diploma HND programme.
What special things do
have up your sleeve for the 2015-2016 Academic year that is just around the
corner?
It is going to be a very special year because of the new
programmes we have launched. We will be training Bio-medical maintenance
Technicians as approved by the Ministry of Vocational Training. These are
Technicians who will be trained to know how to repair hospital equipment. They
will work in hospital environments like Laboratories, medical resource
departments and the sales companies since they will install and maintain the
equipments. The launching of the new Academic year will be very busy with
students from the various departments. Those for HND, Bio-medical Technicians
pioneer badge, Nursing assistants and the vocational nurses. We want to launch
the Academic year making sure that the students are given adequate knowledge of
what is meant to be in a professional school. Experts will be brought in on the
different professions they want to study to tell them the importance of the
professions and what the job market stands to offer in the various professions.
Like in every other year we are reviewing our programmes with an intention of
making them better. So together with my staff we have already put in new things
that we are bringing in. These among other things include spiritual drilling.
Any message to stake
holders in the health sector?
We simply want stake holders to know that we will sending out
well trained personnel who will prove invaluable in the quality of the services
they will provide. Our programmes are being revolutionized according to the
needs of the community. We are tailoring them here to meet the responsibilities
that they have to carry out when they leave here.
Reaction:
Ngome Richard: Director
of EJED Medical Foundation School for Health Personnel.
“We know that the
training we do here impact positively on society. We are training health
personnel that take care of Human beings so we know the degree of the
importance of what we are doing. Here we have a school and a hospital in the
same place. So what we do is that we concentrate on their studies blending the
theory and the practical since the hospital is there and the school is there.
After the first two months of stay in school doing just theory we push you into
the practical in the first week of the third month. We make sure that you go to
the hospital to see what you have been taught in class so that you can better
practice it. When you hear you forget but when you see you remember but when
you participate you know. So we make sure that we send out qualified products.”
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