The noble goal of organizing specialist doctor education is to assist the government’s mission in achieving equal distribution, accelerated fulfillment, and quality assurance of professional medical healthcare services. The implementation of specialist doctor education programs includes enhancing competency, skills, leadership, discipline, responsibility, and mastery of ethics for students. Considering this scope, it can be understood that specialist doctor education aims to shape specialists capable of realizing the future professional quality of healthcare services. This formation is achieved through a complex and systematic process, not merely through skill acquisition alone.
Specialist doctor education programs continue to strive for quality improvement while paying attention to students’ health and well-being. One effort is to reduce potential deviations in education mechanisms that could impact students’ physical and mental health. Mental health screening is an example of a concrete effort to manage students’ mental well-being.
The process of screening or mental health screening for students needs to consider selecting screening instruments to ensure data validity, consider ethical aspects, and maintain data quality. The initial screening results are not meant as conclusions or tools for diagnosing students’ health conditions. The screening results should be followed by further examination stages, such as examinations by mental health professionals. Therefore, the initial study results are not intended for publication as they could lead to misinterpretation, ethical violations, or stigmatization of institutions or specific groups such as specialist doctor candidate students.
The UGM Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing (FK-KMK UGM), in organizing the specialist doctor education program (PPDS), has implemented mental health management for students. Firstly, the faculty conducts health screenings for all specialist doctor candidate students at the beginning of the education process. Secondly, work hours are limited to <80 per week for all specialist doctor candidate students.
Thirdly, the faculty provides continuous education on coping with depressive symptoms to specialist doctor-candidate students. Fourthly, a psychologist team service is available if there are indications of depressive symptoms. This psychologist service can also be accessed online for personal counseling confidentiality. Fifthly, the faculty conducts routine monitoring related to the condition and development of specialist doctor candidate students’ education by academic advisors.
Sustained support in specialist doctor education plays a crucial role in supporting learning quality because students may face various challenges in the education process, such as high workloads with 24-hour emergency services, giving more attention to severe cases and complications, and meeting the institutions or scholarship education provider’s timely education completion targets.
Source:
Prof. Dr. Yodi Mahendradhata, M.Sc., Ph.D., FRSPH
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing
(FK-KMK) UGM
Contact Person:
Ahmad Hamim Sadewa, PhD
Vice Dean for Academic and Student Affairs of FK-KMK UGM
Phone: +62 813-2829-6095
Email: hamdewa@ugm.ac.id
Issued on April 17, 2024
Photo: FK-KMK UGM