Taipei, Sept. 10 (CNA) A group of foreign healthcare workers in Taiwan highly praised the country's medical service personnel, upon completion Friday of a training program for health professionals mostly from nations with diplomatic links to Taiwan.
The two-month program, now in its fifth year, provided training in the fields of medical laboratory science, biomedical engineering and hospital management for a record 41 participants from 17 countries.
Bakary Sanneh, a supervisor and laboratory scientist from Gambia's provincial Basse Major Health Center, said at the closing ceremony that he was impressed with the level of expertise, discipline and friendship that was shown by the Taiwanese professionals with whom he and the other group members worked.
"After five days of hard training, they would take us out on weekends to eat and to visit scenic spots, and they did so with smiles all the time," Sanneh said.
Sanneh's training was carried out at Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital in southern Taiwan, while the other participants were assigned to 18 other hospitals across the country.
With the help of his Taiwanese friends, Sanneh said, he was able to make contact with a company that sells secondhand medical laboratory equipment, which is exactly what Gambia needs.
In keeping with the "Sharing" theme of the 2010 Healthcare Personnel Training Program, Taiwan's medical professionals shared their experience with the participants, who in turn will pass on that knowledge when they return to their countries, said Ileana Joy Downs Gonzalez of Nicaragua.
The program is managed by the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF), the principal body that administers Taiwan's development projects abroad, and is geared toward improving human resources and medical services in the allied countries.
Since the launch of the program five years ago, it has trained 117 foreign healthcare workers, the ICDF said.
It has been held in collaboration with the International Healthcare Cooperation Strategic Alliance, a coalition of 37 hospitals. (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc