Premium
A medical graduate needs to examine breasts, but can he?
Courses in Bible, Spirituality in Medicine and Sociology are mandatory. Senology is nowhere to be found in the curriculum of medical students, not least at the Catholic University of Lublin. Knowledge about chest diseases is taught in different disciplines, and whether the future doctor learns their diagnosis not only theoretically or only using a phantom, as the students say, depends on the involvement of the lecturer.
There are not many specialists with a mission. They train abroad. Both doctors and nurses. For patients. Because there is no official senology in Poland. It does not exist as a specialty (eg, general surgery), nor as a subspecialty (eg, hand surgery), nor as a so-called specialty in which a physician can be certified (eg, head and neck surgery).
The Ministry of Health does not plan any changes here, although the number of breast cancer cases among young women is also increasing, and information about preventive tests and screenings is crying out for revenge.
– The general education program and then the specialization program are definitely not suitable for the work of a breast doctor and especially a gynecologist. He barely covers this broad topic, – says Marcin Schniadecki, doctor of medical sciences, from the department of gynecology and obstetrics of the University Clinical Center in Gdańsk, a member of the senological board of the Society of Gynecologists and Obstetricians of Poland.
He recalls: I remember studying medical law, law and ethics during the course of two weeks in Poznań. I'm not saying these aren't important things, but why isn't senology next to them? But in such a well-thought-out, specific version.
Resident students say: we are already busy with the curriculum.
Professor Mariusz Bidzinski, head of the gynecological oncology clinic of the National Institute of Oncology in Warsaw, a national consultant in this field, admits: Our system is not always able to fully prepare a person and give him a certificate, only when he is a full-fledged doctor. And it can happen between a lazy teacher and a lazy student.
The state invites a 45-year-old woman for a mammogram. The young man has to take care of himself because now he is not getting anything from the system. However, it has a number of problems: lack of information, doctors who are not prepared to perform the tests, and there are still very few specialized breast treatment centers.
More details after login
Access premium content for free and without ads
Sign in or register
