Six clinicians from the National Referral Hospital (NRH) in Honiara have begun clinical training at the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University in China, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services said. Five will stay six months and one three months, in the second group sent under the China-Solomons Urology Minimally Invasive Surgery Centre Program.
The group arrived on 22 September and was taken through the host hospital's layout, its departments and its electronic information system, with a specialist mentor assigned to each trainee, the ministry said. They have since started rotations in wards, clinics, theatres and simulation labs, taking in urologic and neuro minimally invasive surgery, anesthesiology, laboratory work, peri-operative nursing and wound care.
Dr Denton Aota of the NRH General Surgery Department leads the group. With him are Dr Rocky Levao, also of general surgery, Dr Deanray Mark in anaesthesiology, Jarod Bobby in medical laboratory, Melanie Maeletete in operating room nursing and Yolanda Bouro in surgery ward nursing. Between them, the ministry said, they cover every role needed to open a new service at the hospital, rather than going one by one to watch operations.
A farewell ceremony was held for the group in Honiara by the NRH and the Chinese medical team, and interpreter Wang Zhangrong gave the trainees a session on everyday conversational Chinese. NRH chief executive officer George Malefoasi said the hospital wanted stronger specialist care in surgery, neurology and cardiology, and told the six to pay close attention to digital health, which he named a priority, as well as laparoscopy and imaging. "The level of sophistication out there is high, and that is what we want you to go and observe," he said.
Head of surgery Dr Rooney Jagilly said: "You are going to China first and foremost as trainees — this is not a sightseeing trip." He urged the trainees to look at hospital structure, teamwork and infection-prevention standards, to keep a daily notebook and to consider which practices could be adapted to Solomon Islands, and said each would share what they had learned on return.
Dr Chu Liangzhao, leader of the 5th China Medical Team, said he was confident the trainees would bring back new techniques and new ways of working. Of the first group, nine came home last year and now work unsupervised on minimally invasive procedures including holmium laser lithotripsy, the ministry said, and staff the NRH urology ward and Comprehensive Medical Center theatre with the assistance of the Chinese medical team.
Source: Based on "NRH six clinicians now in hands-on training in China", published by the Solomon Islands Government portal under the Ministry of Health & Medical Services on 23 October 2026. https://solomons.gov.sb/nrh-six-clinicians-now-in-hands-on-training-in-china/