Dominican Republic
Population (2018): 10.77 M
Income per Capita (2018): 7052.26 US
Percentage of GDP on Healthcare (2015): 6.22%
training
Year of family medicine established: 1981 (Arya et al., 2017; Organización Panamericana de la Salud, 2011)
Type of Training: As of 2019, there are 7 Family and Community Medicine residency and master’s programs (Pan American Health Organization, 2019)
Length of Training: At least 6 years of Medical School (InterNations). As of 2019, six of the master's and residency programs in Family and Community Medicine have 3-year training & one has a 4-year training program (Pan American Health Organization, 2019).
Number of institutions that offer family medicine: As of 2021, 7 institutions: Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), Central Eastern University (UCE), Ibero-American University (UNIBE), Pedro Henríquez Ureña National University (UNPHU), Cibao Catholic University (UCATECI), Pontifical Catholic University Mother and Teacher (PUCMM) and the Northeast Catholic University (UCNE)(Moronta Ceballos, 2021)
Number of family medicine residents graduating each year: unknown
practice
Number of family doctors: As of 2013, 500 family physicians (Ruilova et al., 2016).
Physician to population ratio: As of 2018, 1.4 physicians per 1,000 people (World Bank, 2022)
DALY: 21,303 per 100,000 individuals (Due to all Causes).
Life Expectancy:
Females 2017: 77.3 years
Males 2017: 71.0 years
Mortality rate 2017:
2017 Males: 201 per 1,000 male adults.
2017 Females: 117 per 1,000 female adults.
Infant Immunization-HepB3: % of 1-year-old children received: 92%
College of Family Physicians (Y or N):
NO
healthcare system
The new system in the Dominican Republic is split into three tiers; the contributive regime, which is financed by workers and employers, the subsidized regime, which is financed by the state for the poor, unemployed, disabled and indigent, and the contributive subsided regime, which is financed by independent professionals, technical workers and self-employed people, and subsidized by the state. In 2013, only 58% of workers were using the public healthcare system (InterNations, n.d.).
training
Family physicians are very rare in the Dominican Republic, instead individuals are often using internists for medical problems and referrals, as they are unaware of family physicians (InterNations, n.d.). It is very rare, even unknown the number of physicians in either the private or public sector (InterNations, n.d.).
practice
Along with physicians, the Dominican Republic also has internists, obstetrics and gynecologists, pediatricians, as well as nurses (WHO, n.d.). There is a gatekeeping system in the Dominican Republic, though internists refer patients to specialists, if needed (InterNations, n.d.). The health system is defined as a social security model. In 2014 the Dominican Republic adopted a model of care based on the primary health strategy and the Integrated Health Services Network (WHO, n.d.).
References
1. Arya, Neil, Christine Gibson, David Ponka, Cynthia Haq, Stephanie Hansel, Bruce Dahlman, and Katherine Rouleau. 2017. “Family Medicine around the World: Overview by Region: The Besrour Papers: A Series on the State of Family Medicine in the World.” Canadian Family Physician Medecin de Famille Canadien 63 (6): 436–41.
Banco Mundial. (2022). Médicos (por cada 1.000 personas)—Guatemala, Venezuela, RB, Honduras, Dominican Republic. https://datos.bancomundial.org/indicador/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS?end=2018&locations=GT-VE-HN-DO&start=1960&view=chart
2. “Current Health Expenditure (% of GDP) | Data.” n.d. Accessed December 16, 2018. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS.
Castillo, L. A., Toro, C. B., Coria, A. I., Prato, J. R., & Ortega, M. F. (2012). Hacia el fortalecimiento de la Medicina Familiar y la Atención Primaria en los sistemas de salud: IV Cumbre Iberoamericana de Medicina Familiar. Asunción, Paraguay 2011. Archivos en Medicina Familiar, 14(4), 93–112.
3. “Dominican Republic: Health and Safety | InterNations.” n.d. Accessed January 11, 2019. https://www.internations.org/dominican-republic-expats/guide/living-in-the-dominican-republic-15788/dominican-republic-health-and-safety-2.
4. “Dominican Republic.” n.d. Accessed January 11, 2019. https://www.paho.org/salud-en-las-americas-2017/?page_id=115.
5. “Inicio | Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña | UNPHU | Santo Domingo, República Dominicana.” n.d. Accessed January 11, 2019. https://unphu.edu.do/.
Moronta Ceballos, F. Y. (2021). Rep. Dominicana. http://cimfwonca.org/acerca-de-cimf/junta-directiva-regiones/rep-dominicana-2/
6. “Population, Total | Data.” n.d. Accessed December 16, 2018. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL.
7. “TRADING ECONOMICS | 20 Million INDICATORS FROM 196 COUNTRIES.” n.d. Accessed December 16, 2018. https://tradingeconomics.com/.
8. “List of Doctors and Medical Services in the Dominican Republic.” 2013. Retrieved from https://photos.state.gov/libraries/dominicanrepublic/66631/acs/doctors_and_hospitals.pdf
9. Pan American Health Organization. (2019). Mapping of Training Programs in Family and Community Health. https://www.observatoriorh.org/sites/default/files/webfiles/fulltext/2019/2019_ops_mapeo_programas_salud_familiar.pdf
10. Ruilova, G. A., Caspi, L. V., García, L. A., Vicente, V. C., Hierro, G. S. del, & Durán, S. A. (2016). Training programs in family medicine in Ibero-America. Brazilian Journal of Family and Community Medicine, 11(Suppl 1), 47–60. https://doi.org/10.5712/rbmfc11(0)1278
11. Moronta Ceballos, F.Y. (2021). Dominican rep. http://cimfwonca.org/acerca-de-cimf/junta-directiva-regiones/rep-dominicana-2/