By Staff | Healing Venezuela
Junior Doctors Sponsorship Programme
(January 2023 – July 2023)
Introduction
The most recent report from the United Nations in December 2022 established that in Venezuela, 7 million people need humanitarian assistance (1). A similar number of Venezuelans are now refugees in other countries in Latin America, as stated by Human Rights Watch (January 2023) (2). The restart of the negotiations in Mexico between the Government and the opposition to address the crisis in Venezuela is stalled, and much-needed support for 90% of the impoverished population hasn´t materialised. The Venezuelan Observatory of Finance (OVF) (3) reported that the inter-annual inflation rate climbed 157%, and the accumulated rate stood at 111.8%.
The exodus of professionals from all disciplines continues. Doctors and nurses are not an exception, and hospitals are closing entire wards for lack of staff. An estimated 40,000 doctors have left the country since the beginning of the crisis in 2017, and the number will continue to grow in 2023. Almost 50% of doctors have migrated, looking for a better future.
Healing Venezuela’s mission is to alleviate the country’s humanitarian crisis through a series of programmes. One of the most successful is the junior doctors´ sponsorship programme. Their role is crucial as they are at the forefront of medical care in state hospitals, but their salaries, even with an increase in 2022, it’s between $40 and $143 monthly, depending on the hospitals where they work and how many shifts they do. Despite the increase, the situation continues to be critical. With an inflation rate of three digits and sometimes having to wait months to be paid, it's hard to make ends meet. Considering that the food basket for a family of four is $490, salaries are not enough for a skilled professional who can find a job either in the private sector or elsewhere. It´s not surprising that the brain drain continues.
Since 2018, Healing Venezuela has supported junior doctors in different hospitals across the country, transferring a small amount of money in local currency every month to their accounts. The programme’s attrition rate is less than 1%, which means that the sponsorship is helping to retain doctors in the country. More than 400 doctors from our sponsorship have graduated.
With the generous support from GLOBALGIVING and others foundations, this year we could increase the monthly allowance from $25 to $50 and expanded the programme to 8 hospitals across the country. Supporting junior doctors continues to be one of Healing Venezuela’s main priorities as its multiplying effect is a very effective one.
How the Programme Works
The sponsorship requests come from the heads of discipline in hospitals where junior doctors are training. Once a request is received, our National Project Coordinator verifies the information and shares it with the board. If approved in the UK, we request the heads of medical departments in Venezuela to provide the documentation as per our guidelines.
The criteria to participate are:
The documents requested are:
Once these have been received and verified, the new applicants are included in the list of grantees. Cash transfers are done at the beginning of the month through a money transfer outfit in the UK, Roraima Remesas, to each doctor’s bank account in local currency. If a doctor leaves the programme, the head of the department proposes new candidates to replace them. The National Project Coordinator verifies that payments are made by checking the invoices and keeping in touch with the beneficiaries via email and WhatsApp.
The number of scholarships is allocated considering the size of the hospital, the population density of the catchment area, and the requests from the heads of discipline. Table 1 shows the number of scholarships allocated per hospital.
Funds Disbursement
Table 2 shows the monthly disbursement. The payment variability depended on two factors: the number of doctors and the inflation rate of the pound versus the dollar versus the Venezuelan currency. The key criteria were to ensure that each doctor in the programme received $50 per month.
Impact
The impact of this programme has multiple dimensions. First, it allows young professionals to continue their education, increasing their probability of higher income. Second, with the exodus of doctors and such a high percentage of poverty, junior doctors keep hospital wards open, allowing the poorest Venezuelans to receive medical attention. Table 3 show the medical consultation number (1st semester).
Testimonials
As part of the requirements to join the scholarship programme, we ask each junior doctor to send a testimony as Q&As to share with our donors at the end of each term. Below are the three we chose.
Testimonial 1
JV - Hospital Luis Razzetti (Barcelona)
Q. Please tell us how Healing Venezuela’s financial support is helping you.
A. “The support works in many ways, helping me pay for the rent of the house and food expenses”.
Q. What would you like to say to the current and future donors?
A. “I would tell them that what they do is a great job, that we are really grateful and that as long as they can help us and those who come next, we will be deeply grateful because we really need them”.
Q. We are aware of the hard work you have been doing, and we would like to know a story of when a patient has shown you special gratitude after treating him.
A. “My patient LC had a serious accident and fractured his pelvis. He had complications, and we had to keep controlling his vital signs and haematology every 6 hours. He was surprised by my commitment, and he always writes to me and thanks me for being a constant support while he went through that emergency”.
Testimonial 2
SH - Hospital Universitario de Caracas (Caracas)
Q. Please tell us how Healing Venezuela’s financial support is helping you.
A. “It helps cover my expenses, such as food and transportation, which makes it easier to go to work. That reduces the stress and worry, and I can focus on my patients”.
Q. What would you like to say to the current and future donors?
A.“I am grateful for the help and support provided, also for supporting other colleagues. Our patients are also part of all this. Our donors have helped us provide the best possible care”.
Q. We are aware of the hard work you have been doing, and we would like to know a story of when a patient has shown you special gratitude after treating him.
A. “I treat children. They are undoubtedly the best patients. The greatest joy is when they can return to their homes with their family”.
Testimonial 3
SV - Hospital Pedro Garcia Lara (Zulia State)
Q. Please tell us how Healing Venezuela’s financial support is helping you.
A. “It helps me pay for my transportation expenses to the hospital as I live in another county and don’t have a car”.
Q. What would you like to say to the current and future donors?
A. “First, I would like to thank them for contributing to this cause. Many of us benefit, and thanks to you, we can fulfil our dreams and goals. Thank you also for continuing to believe in Venezuelan doctors.”
Q. We are aware of the hard work you have been doing, and we would like to know a story of when a patient has shown you special gratitude after treating him.
A. “It is difficult to choose between patients; most people are very grateful, but one of the most significant cases was a male patient who came to the hospital with ventricular tachycardia. We had to apply cardioversion electricity, but the family didn’t have money, so the procedure was done without sedation. It was very painful, but after the procedure, he felt better. The patient and his family were very grateful. He was discharged a few days later without problems, and from time to time, he visits us to bring us plantain that he harvests himself”.
Conclusions
The stories our junior doctors share with us are harrowing, and this report falls short of showing all the moving testimonies we received. The commitment, dedication and hard work of these young professionals, who work with very few resources, deserve all the support we can provide. Organisations such as GlobalGiving and others made a big difference in the lives of thousands of Venezuelans in 2023. We hope we can count on their generous support in the near future.
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