Training programme in Latvia for Norwegian 5th year medical students in the period autumn 1995 – spring 2001.* See text p. 125f.

The students in the 16th term of their medical curriculum were away from their regular studies at the Institute for general practice and community medicine, University of Oslo for four weeks, taking part in practical medical work in primary health care and community medicine under supervision of a general practitioner. In the course of the term the students also were expected to submit a report on some medical topic of interest.

The structure of the stay for the students in Latvia was as follows: Five working days x four weeks = 20 days; minus one day for arrival and one day for departure = 18 days. The first groups were accommodated in a guest house on Skolas iela in Riga, belonging to the Latvian physicians’ association, the rest in a Riga hotel (Valdemars), where special arrangements had been made. Each group consisted of four to six students.* In addition, one group from Trondheim also had a stay in Latvia, see text page 127. The outplacement repeated itself twice a year.

Five of the working days were allocated to the preparation of the written report; four days of relevant visits and excursions and one day for literature and related information search. With some variations due to the topic of the reports etc., the stay was organised in four parts, strictly following a timetable which was handed out at the outset. When needed, minibus transportation was provided. Guntis Kilkuts was the local supervisor and organiser. The working language was English.

• 1. Visits to family medicine practices in rural and urban areas. Possibility to take part in house calls. Intention: Study the working conditions in Latvian primary health care and the medical problems encountered in the first line services.

• 2. Social and mental care. Visits to social care institutions and exploring aspects of mental care specific for Latvia.

• 3. Public health issues. This field is not part of the responsibilities for Latvian family physicians, but was included in the programme according to the Norwegian profile. Visits were made to water treatment plants, Latvian Infectiology Centre (with emphasis on controllable infections like diphtheria and tick borne encephalitis), and to selected industries where quality control issues were addressed. Riga Food Market served as a live example of food distribution with public health aspects.

• 4. Topic related visits. Excursions, interviews etc. according to the topic, in order to study how the problem chosen for the report was handled on different levels in Latvia, from doing grass-root observations in rural and urban areas to meeting top academic opinion leaders and administrators.