Adolescent health in Asia: insights from Thailand
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Rosawan Areemit
Abstract
Background:
Adolescence in an age of opportunity in Thailand. The main health issues of this age group are related to pregnancy, injuries and poisoning, all which should be preventable.
Objective and methods:
This article presents the experiences of Thai physicians, who received adolescent medicine fellowship training in North America and brought their experience, knowledge, skills, and adolescent health care principles and practice back to Thailand. The anticipations and the facts faced in everyday practice, training, research, and collaboration in a place with their own culture and societal norms are described.
Results:
Currently, there are six adolescent medicine specialists who work with experienced specialist in the subcommittee of adolescent health under the Royal College of Pediatricians of Thailand. There has been collaboration with both the public sector and health care sector, government and non-government organizations with regards to health care service and promotion. Many hospitals especially residency training institutes have increased the cut-off age of patients to be seen by pediatricians to 15 or 18 years of age. Since 2011, adolescent medicine was made one of the mandatory rotations in all pediatric resident training programs.
Conclusion:
There is still more work to be done – issues around policies for confidentiality and a lower age of consent, collaboration between other specialties to enable a large-scale youth-friendly one-stop services, and multicenter research opportunities are still awaiting.
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the Royal College of Pediatricians of Thailand, the founders of the subcommittee of adolescent health providing the opportunity for this discipline to arise. Also, we would like to thank the present members and consultants of the subcommittee, pediatricians, general practitioners and those who provide health care for adolescents, who continue to work so hard for our country’s future. Also we are grateful to adolescents, who provided us such an insight into their lives, for showing us the way to provide them the best health care they need.
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©2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorials
- Adolescent health and medicine: a global perspective on training adolescent health professionals
- Adolescent medicine and health: a good investment
- Reviews
- The status of adolescent medicine: building a global adolescent workforce
- Accreditation of Adolescent Medicine as a pediatric sub-specialty: the Canadian experience and lessons learned
- Adolescent and young adult medicine in Australia and New Zealand: towards specialist accreditation
- The foundations of interdisciplinary fellowship training in adolescent medicine in the United States
- A different training model for adolescent medicine: a PhD program in Turkey, where adolescent medicine is not currently a sub-specialty at this stage
- LEAH interdisciplinary training program
- The globalization of training in adolescent health and medicine: one size does not fit all
- Opportunities and challenges in adolescent health training abroad: trainees’ experience and perspective
- Training international medical graduate clinical fellows: the challenges and opportunities for adolescent medicine programs
- Adolescent health in South America
- Adolescent health care education and training: insights from Israel
- Adolescent health in Asia: insights from Singapore
- Adolescent health in Asia: insights from Thailand
- Adolescent health in Asia: insights from India
- Adolescent health in the Caribbean region: insights from the Jamaican experience
- The health of Swiss adolescents and its implications for training of health professionals in Switzerland
- The role of Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine in training of health professionals
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorials
- Adolescent health and medicine: a global perspective on training adolescent health professionals
- Adolescent medicine and health: a good investment
- Reviews
- The status of adolescent medicine: building a global adolescent workforce
- Accreditation of Adolescent Medicine as a pediatric sub-specialty: the Canadian experience and lessons learned
- Adolescent and young adult medicine in Australia and New Zealand: towards specialist accreditation
- The foundations of interdisciplinary fellowship training in adolescent medicine in the United States
- A different training model for adolescent medicine: a PhD program in Turkey, where adolescent medicine is not currently a sub-specialty at this stage
- LEAH interdisciplinary training program
- The globalization of training in adolescent health and medicine: one size does not fit all
- Opportunities and challenges in adolescent health training abroad: trainees’ experience and perspective
- Training international medical graduate clinical fellows: the challenges and opportunities for adolescent medicine programs
- Adolescent health in South America
- Adolescent health care education and training: insights from Israel
- Adolescent health in Asia: insights from Singapore
- Adolescent health in Asia: insights from Thailand
- Adolescent health in Asia: insights from India
- Adolescent health in the Caribbean region: insights from the Jamaican experience
- The health of Swiss adolescents and its implications for training of health professionals in Switzerland
- The role of Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine in training of health professionals
