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The Jababeka industrial area, which was built in the late 1990s, is increasingly developing into an integrated industrial area. This area has developed into an independent city inhabited by more than 1 million people, most of whom are middle-class citizens. Around this area, there are also more than 20 hospitals. So, all the supporting facilities are available. There is only something lacking, namely the unavailability of medical education institutions.
This was explained by Dr. (HC) SD Darmono, Founder of Jababeka Group and President University (PresUniv), while giving a speech at the signing of the Partnership Agreement (PKS) between PresUniv and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Padjadjaran (Unpad) at Hotel Nuanza, Cikarang, Bekasi, Friday (17/12). This PKS was signed by the Rector of PresUniv Prof. Dr. Jony Oktavian Haryanto with the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Unpad Prof. Dr. dr. Yudi Mulyana Hidayat, Sp.OG(K).
The PKS signing ceremony was also attended by Prof. Dr. Ir. Budi Susilo Soepandji, DEA, Chair of the President University Education Foundation, Handa S. Abidin, S.H., LL.M., Ph.D., Vice Rector for Academics and Student Affairs, Dr. Dra. Fennieka Kristianto, S.H., M.H., M.A., M.Kn, Vice Rector for Resources, and Dr. Josep Ginting, SE, MM, Vice Rector for Business Development. Meanwhile, from Unpad, dr. Irvan Afriandi, MPH.,Dr.PH, Vice Dean for Resources and Organization, Prof. Dr.med. dr. Tri Hanggono Achmad (Unpad Rector 2015-2019), and several other leaders.
This PKS is a follow-up to the signing of the Declaration of Guidance/Assistance from the Faculty of Medicine, Unpad, in the context of establishing the Medical Study Program at PresUniv conducted by PresUniv and the Faculty of Medicine, Unpad, at Jababeka Golf & Country Club, Cikarang, at the end of September 2021. So, the signing of the PKS this time was again a step forward for PresUniv to establish a Medical Study Program.
Two Clauses
This PKS includes two clauses, namely the establishment of the Medical Study Program at PresUniv and the development of the Academic Health System (AHS) in the Jababeka industrial area. AHS or academic health system is the organization of all health institutions in the Jababeka industrial area and its surroundings, such as hospitals, medical education institutions, health education institutions, research, and others. The final form of AHS is the availability of an integrated health service system to improve the quality of health services to the community and the existence of superior research and support for the development of health services.
In his remarks at the event, Darmono said that PresUniv had long wanted to open medical education but was hampered by regulations regarding the moratorium on establishing Study Programs or the Faculty of Medicine which had been implemented since 2016 by the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education (Kemenristekdikti). With the increasing number of hospitals in Cikarang and its surroundings, the need for human health resources, including doctors, increases. So, the existence of a Medical Study Program in Cikarang, Bekasi, has become a necessity.
With assistance from the Faculty of Medicine Unpad, Darmono hopes that the Medical Study Program at PresUniv will be able to produce quality doctors. "So, it is an honor for PresUniv to be able to sign the PKS with the Faculty of Medicine Unpad, whose name is already so big and historic." Darmono hopes that with the existence of qualified doctors, in the future, there will be no need for expatriates or other executives who work in the Jababeka industrial area to go for treatment or check their health abroad. "They just need treatment or check their health in hospitals in Cikarang," he said.
Meanwhile, Prof. Yudi Mulyana Hidayat expressed his appreciation for PresUniv's trust in the Faculty of Medicine, Unpad, to provide assistance. "We really appreciate PresUniv's trust," said Prof. Yudi. Regarding AHS development in the Jababeka industrial area, Prof. Yudi emphasized the importance of support from all stakeholders. "Without the support of all parties, the development of AHS will not be successful," he stressed.
Overcome Doctor Distribution Inequality
Continuing his speech, Darmono said that currently, PresUniv accepts students from various regions throughout Indonesia. The same will also be applied to the Medical Studies Program. After graduating from the Medical Study Program, PresUniv, the hope is that they will return to their area to work as doctors there. In this way, PresUniv will help overcome the imbalance in the distribution of doctors in various regions in Indonesia.
Currently in Indonesia, the ratio of the number of doctors compared to the population, especially the distribution, is still very unequal. Referring to the Ministry of Health data in 2019, DKI Jakarta Province, as the nation's capital has 6-7 general practitioners for every 10,000 population. Meanwhile, the provinces close to Jakarta, namely Banten and West Java, only have one general practitioner for every 10,000 population. Central Java province also only has 1-2 general practitioners per 10,000 population. The same thing happened in several other provinces, such as West Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, West Sulawesi, and Maluku.
The World Health Organization (WHO) only stipulates one doctor per 10,000 population. Under normal circumstances, the number of doctors already meets WHO standards. However, if a pandemic or other health disaster occurs, such as the Covid-19 pandemic that has hit Indonesia since the end of 2019, the very limited number of doctors will make it difficult to handle. As a result, many patients will not be helped. Even several doctors and other health workers were also victims. One of the triggers is the result of doctors and health workers working too hard to treat Covid-19 patients, so they are exhausted. In such conditions, their immune system decreases, making them vulnerable to infection with viruses and other diseases. That is a portrait of what happened during the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia and many other countries.
So, learning from the case of the Covid-19 pandemic, increasing the number of doctors and health workers, including their supporting facilities, is now a necessity. The moratorium on medical education set by the government is worthy of review. Do not let pandemic cases, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, which claimed many lives as a result of the lack of doctors, health workers, and health facilities, repeat themselves.
Lecture programs at PresUniv so far use English. Thus, doctors who graduated from PresUniv will also be fluent in English. Nowadays, the ability to speak English is very important. There are still many journals, scientific publications, seminars, or international events that use English as the language of instruction. In addition, English language skills are also needed by PresUniv students or graduates who want to expand their network to an international level. That way, the opportunities for students and graduates of the Medical Studies Program, PresUniv, to develop themselves are very open.
In fact, said Darmono, with the ability to speak English, opportunities for graduates of the Medical Study Program, PresUniv, to have a career in medicine abroad are also very open. So, in the future Indonesia will be able to export quality workers. Indonesia will be able to export educated workers, not just unskilled labor.
