Australia Supports More Medical Students to Enrol at the UPNG School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Australia’s Incentive Fund supported UPNG to build a new 40-bed female dormitory at its School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Port Moresby. The dormitory is already supporting UPNG to enrol more future health workers.
The new dormitory has helped support more enrolments in the Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery programs marking a significant achievement for the school.
Operations Manager, Fergusion Ronespha, said the construction of the dormitory has enabled the school to take steps to increase student enrolments.
“The number of students has increased from 60 to over 80 students for the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). Enrolments in other health science programs have also increased,” Ferguson said.
In its original proposal submitted to Australia’s Incentive Fund, the UPNG School of Medicine and Health Science estimated that new enrolments would be able to increase from 50 to 70 students through the construction of the dormitory. That figure was surpassed in the first year of the new infrastructure, with 86 students now able to enrol in the MBBS program.
Australia is working in partnership with the Government of PNG to prioritise the expansion of the health workforce and improve access to and the quality of healthcare.
This project supports a crucial component of the National Health Plan 2021-2030 strengthening health outcomes and addressing workforce shortages.
