Ecuador
Population (2018): 16.62 M
Income per Capita (2018): 6,198.98 US
Percentage of GDP on Healthcare (2015): 8.54%
training
Year of family medicine established: 1987 (Arya et al., 2017)
Type of Training: Residency Program (Arya et al., 2017)
Length of Training: Training consists of 7 years of Medical School (Arya et al., 2017), followed by a 3-year Residency Program (Arya et al., 2017)
Number of institutions that offer family medicine: The first family medicine residency program started at the Catholic University of Cuenca (Wilson, 1993)
Number of family medicine residents graduating each year: unknown
practice
Number of family doctors: Not very high, averaging 172 per 100,000 people (Expat, n.d.).
Physician to population ratio: On average, the ratio of family physicians to patients is 166.5 per 100,000 people (World Bank, 2018).
DALY: 17,713 per 100,000 individuals (Due to all Causes).
Life Expectancy:
Females 2017: 79.3 years
Males 2017: 73.9 years
Mortality rate 2017:
2017 Males: 157 per 1,000 male adults.
2017 Females: 84 per 1,000 female adults.
Infant Immunization-HepB3: % of 1-year-old children received: 85%
College of Family Physicians (Y or N):
NO
healthcare system
The system in Ecuador is a mixed health care system, with public, private and social security sectors. It is a publicly funded health system aimed towards a universal primary health care (Aranda et al., 2017 & Morrill, 2016). Family medicine is publicly recognized by the ministry, where an agreement between Cuba and Ecuador was established to enhance the family medicine program in Ecuador. Also, recognized by the government, where they are introducing reforms aimed at improving health care delivery for the entire population (Aranda et al., 2017 & Delgado Cruz et al., 2016).
training
Family Medicine is not well respected as a speciality in this country. There is still heavy emphasis on specialization which is reflected in the poor funding given for family medicine residency programs.
practice
Alongside physicians, there are also have pediatricians, obstetrics and gynecologists, internists, as well as nurses in Ecuador (Delgado Cruz, et al., 2016). Family physicians in Ecuador perform home visits and home care in their daily work, where the health team takes on the challenge of the individual and family care (Delgado Cruz, et al., 2016). In Ecuador, family and community medicine training was made based on the objectives and guidelines of the care model, focusing on providing care with equity, efficiency, effectiveness and quality to individuals, families and communities (Delgado Cruz et al., 2016).
References
1. Aranda, J.M.R., van Weel, C., and Goodyear-Smith, F. 2017. “Strategies for Increasing the Role of Family Medicine in Mexican Health Care Reform.” J Am Board Fam Med 30 (6): 843–47. https://doi.org/10.3122/JABFM.2017.06.170024.
2. Arya, N., Gibson, C., Ponka, D., Haq, C., Hansel, S., Dahlman, B., and Rouleau, K. 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.
3. “Current Health Expenditure (% of GDP) | Data.” n.d. Accessed December 16, 2018. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS.
4. Delgado Cruz, A., Ferregut, J.A.M., López Bueno, M., and Fajardo Rodríguez, O. 2016. Revista de Ciencias Médicas de Pinar Del Río. Revista de Ciencias Médicas de Pinar Del Río. Vol. 20. 1999, Editorial Ciencias Médicas. http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1561-31942016000300015.
5. “Healthcare in Ecuador, Health Care in Ecuador.” n.d. Accessed January 11, 2019. https://www.expat.com/en/guide/south-america/ecuador/10448-health-care-in-ecuador.html.
6. Morrill, D. 2016. “Health Care and Health Insurance in Ecuador: Big Improvements in Quality and Changes in Insurance Options Are Good News for Expats – CuencaHighLife.” Accessed January 11, 2019. https://cuencahighlife.com/health-care-and-health-insurance-for-ecuador-expats-big-improvements-and-big-changes-change-the-landscape/.
7. “Population, Total | Data.” n.d. Accessed December 16, 2018. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL.
8. “TRADING ECONOMICS | 20 Million INDICATORS FROM 196 COUNTRIES.” n.d. Accessed December 16, 2018. https://tradingeconomics.com/.
9. Wilson, C.L. 1993. “Establishing the First Family Medicine Program in Ecuador.” Family Medicine 25 (5): 343–45. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8514006.