Global Health | Fellows, Members and Trainees

Solomon Islands, an archipelago of almost 1000 islands and atolls nestled in the tropical waters of the South Pacific. A country known for its warm hospitality and natural beauty. And while the people who call Solomon Islands home, enjoy a culture rich in community and tradition, they also face significant challenges, one of the biggest can be found in the country’s healthcare system.

Solomon Islands’ Healthcare System has a very low doctor to population ratio, which is a critical issue and that’s got a huge impact on the ability to deliver universal health coverage.

We don’t have enough doctors and that has been a long-standing issue for the hospital.

Medical degrees are not available in Solomon Islands, meaning there is no pathway for eager young students to become doctors. Most Solomon Islands interns receive their medical training in Cuba, while others travel to neighbouring countries like Fiji and Papua New Guinea. But when they return home to work, there simply aren’t enough specialists to provide the training and supervision they need to become registered doctors.

Having studied in Spanish I didn’t have to come back and translate everything to English. You know I work in a local context, a little bit challenging for us. So I needed more practice, especially with practical procedures.

There was a missing link between the really fantastic training that Solomon Islands’ high-achieving medical students were undertaking overseas, and really being able to embed that knowledge in the quite complex systems here.

It was realised that there was a need for a training program to help them transition into the Solomon Islands setting.

Enter SIGISSP, the Solomon Islands Graduate Internship and Supervision Support Project, an initiative designed to strengthen the capacity of the local medical workforce. Through SIGISSP, AVI responds to locally identified needs, sending skilled Australians to supervise foreign trained graduates and empower the next generation of doctors.

SIGISSP began in response to a request from the Solomon Islands from the Ministry of Health when they were being overwhelmed by a large number of medical graduates returning to the Solomon Islands.

The locals would be able to really understand the needs. We formulate the requirements. Maybe I fix it up and then identify the fit for purpose volunteer to come and fill those, it’s a perfect thing.

Solomon Islands Medical Volunteer Program is a three-year program involving two components. One is a bridging one-year twelve-month and the other two is the intensive proper, which is 24 months.

They’re closely supervised as always in all aspects in whatever we do. From the theory, handling morning ward rounds procedures, they were there.

The Australian volunteers they were really one-to-one there for personal relationships and those people to people links have been so important in Australia and Solomon Islands partnership for decades.

With them coming over, we’ve also been able to have access to their networks. They all come from different hospitals and they’ve been able to relate to us experiences from the hospitals and should we require any particular expertise from their network, be able to gain access to that as well

It has been obviously a very successful program. I think everybody has achieved a lot together, the Ministry of Health and the doctors and staff at NIH. ABI really taking the lead from the program side and the Australian volunteers who come and do give up their time. It’s demonstrated that it’s been really rewarding for those individuals.

On a professional level, I think I certainly have developed more patience, and I’ve also developed the skill of working with minimal equipment.

You don’t just work as a clinician treating patients, you work as an educator, you work as a supervisor. So, I got a lot out of the experience and hopefully in the process made a small contribution as well.

The biggest difference I’ve noticed is in the local leaders. They’re just displaying such great leadership and they’re so confident and knowledgeable.

That program really helped boost my confidence. We are much like walking by myself now. Most operations.

Before 2014 there were only 13 doctors in the provinces. Now we have 49 or so. The emergency department only had five to six doctors, but now we’re able to staff the emergency department with 70 doctors.

I think the AVR model is really crucial, and it’s very respectful. It’s working in a true partnership.

I know that ABI is a trusted partner because they have those community links. You really feel like it’s an exchange and not a transaction.

Through SIGISSP, Solomon Islands is building a robust medical workforce and patients can access the basic human right of quality healthcare. Change that’s locally driven and sustainable, that’s change that moves us forward.