I fully appreciate how New Zealand was able to integrate the Maori culture into curriculum planning. This is a proof that it is doable and is working. The Philippines is in a similar situation in that we have a lot of indigenous people with their own health beliefs and methods of healing. To add to it, the influence of the Spanish, Chinese and Americans further muddled our perspectives.
Here in the Palawan State University School of Medicine, our dream is to create a curriculum that will incorporate traditional practices having recognized that ownership among the stakeholders, in this case the indigenous people, is critical to the success of a program. If we can prepare health care workers who are culturally sensitive, speaks the dialect and more so train someone from among them, we can address a lot of issues among them the problem of infectious diseases, climate change, and disaster preparedness.
Here in the Palawan State University School of Medicine, our dream is to create a curriculum that will incorporate traditional practices having recognized that ownership among the stakeholders, in this case the indigenous people, is critical to the success of a program. If we can prepare health care workers who are culturally sensitive, speaks the dialect and more so train someone from among them, we can address a lot of issues among them the problem of infectious diseases, climate change, and disaster preparedness.