Huge Demand For Medical Training

Demand for places at the University of Namibia's three-year old School of Medicine and the recently introduced pharmacy degree programme far outstrips the number of places available, it has emerged.

Founding dean of the School of Medicine (SoM) Prof Peter Nyarango confirmed this phenomenon in an interview and said the demand for admission into the MBChB and BPharm programmes was more acute for school leavers locally and from abroad than mature students.

"This has been our experience ever since these courses were introduced at the University of Namibia," Nyarango said.
The SoM takes on average between 50 and 60 students for the MBChB and about 25 students to read pharmacy each year. The majority of the students are Namibians, although it admits about a third of its students from southern African countries that do not have medical schools.

Nyarango said demand for entry into these two courses through mature entry was also very high, with scores of applicants falling over each other to secure the only four places – two in pharmacy and two in medicine- available each year.

"At the inception of the SoM about two years ago there were easily over 500 mature entry applicants for the MBChB degree. We could only take two. This year there is also a very high demand for mature entry and we have only two places available in pharmacy and medicine," Nyarango explained, adding that the SoM was obliged to reserve most of its places for school leavers.

He said the school had lately seen an increasing number of Namibian medical students studying in universities abroad applying to transfer to the UNAM SoM.

"So far we have been reluctant to take them because we do not have sufficient resources to satisfy local demand," Nyarango said.

To be admitted into the pharmacy or medicine programme on the basis of maturity, one needs to be aged at least 25 years and should possess five years of relevant work experience. Nurses and pharmacy technicians normally form the bulk of mature entry applicants. One should also pass an entrance test.

When the SoM started, it admitted a 52 year old person through its mature entry window. However, the student withdrew after one year citing family and personal reasons. There is now a raging debate as to whether the SoM should have an upper age limit, but with the debate likely to touch on sensitive constitutional and economic rights involved, observers say it will not be easy to resolve.

Globally there is no such age limit. People go back to school whenever they want. However, some medical schools are now moving towards admitting students who have at least a first science related degree. In Ghana, for example, nobody is admitted into medical school without at least a first science-related degree.

Nyarango said for Namibia and for the foreseeable future, the SoM would draw its students from the country's high schools but that requires major resources for the high schools to generally raise the standard of education.

Lack of solid foundation in science subjects such as mathematics, biology, physics and chemistry at high school has worked against many Namibians attempting to enter medical school via mature entry.

Recently the SoM was exhibited at the Ongwediva Trade Fair in northern Namibia alongside companies and other enterprises from all over the SADC region and beyond. Reports from there suggest that the UNAM SoM stand attracted a lot of excitement.

"Hundreds of application forms were snapped up within minutes prompting officials to make more copies," Nyarango said.