Indonesia has abundant marine potential. This potential has no escape from the health risks attached to it. This is related to all human activities that take advantage of this potential in the form of transportation/shipping, economic centers, services, mining and tourism. The potential health hazards in individuals and groups, both temporary and permanent, must be investigated, controlled and carried out in an integrated, holistic, and professional medical intervention. This is to increase safety and health status and minimize risk. Considering that Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country in the world with a very large sea area, the country is paying great attention to the development of marine affairs towards Indonesia as the world's maritime axis. Based on Presidential Regulation No. 16 of 2017 concerning Indonesian Marine Policy and Presidential Regulation No. 34 of 2022 concerning Indonesian Marine Policy Action Plan, Marine Resources Management and Human Resources Development, it is the first pillar of maritime policy in Indonesia. Therefore, the profession of marine medicine specialist is needed to provide specific services at the primary and secondary levels in preventing and dealing with diseases related to work in ports, ships, offshore platform diving workers, divers and coastal communities/remote islands. Specifically, this is not studied in medical education or master's education.
Meanwhile, in the world of health, marine medicine specialists (SPKL) are still very minimal and do not yet have a study program that produces human resources as SPKL doctors. So far, the degree of marine medicine specialist in Indonesia is obtained from a collegium not based on education at a university through a study program. The total number of SPKL is currently only 62 people in Indonesia.
The definition of maritime medicine according to the International Maritime Medicine Association (IMMA) includes health problems in the shipping environment (micro and macroclimate), health standards for work, exposure to seafarers, passengers, shipping support personnel, shipbuilding and port workers, working environment conditions, sanitation, nutrition and toxicology, telemedical services and the availability of basic medical services to medical evacuation on ships and services for offshore donkey healthcare, and services.
Indonesia needs to have an education center in order to meet the needs of marine medicine specialists in Indonesia. The Faculty of Medicine, University of Mataram is located on the island of Lombok, NTB Province which is an archipelago with two large islands (P. Lombok and Sumbawa Island) and 278 small islands that surround it. Of the several small islands, there are islands which are tourist attractions such as: Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, Gili Air, Gili Gede, Gili Lontar, Bungin Island, Moyo Island and several other island clusters. The geographical conditions and potential above cause NTB to have a very strategic position because it is located on the Banda Aceh-Kupang transportation route, the Lombok Strait in the west and the Makassar Strait in the north is a strategic sea transportation route that is increasingly crowded, from the Middle East it is the traffic of fuel oil and from Australia in the form of metal minerals to Asia Pacific. In addition, the NTB region, which is a trade route to the eastern region of Indonesia (Surabaya – Makasar) and is located in a famous cross-world area of world tourism, Bali-Komodo-Tanah Toraja so that from an economic perspective it is very profitable. Based on this background, FK Unram proposed the opening of the Marine Medicine Specialist Education Program (PPDS KL).