The requirement for further education is included in the inquiry on competence enhancement in healthcare, which investigator Harriet Wallberg has now submitted to Minister of Health Acko Ankarberg Johansson (KD).
At a press conference, Harriet Wallberg explained that the requirement for further education is indirectly addressed in legislation, but that clarification is needed.
Every other midwife
The investigation's survey shows, for example, that 50 percent of midwives lack the opportunity to further educate themselves during working hours and that 70 percent of biomedical analysts do not get sufficient further education.
This is a serious picture that emerges. How can one maintain competence if it looks like this? says Harriet Wallberg.
The stricter requirements for further education are proposed to be introduced in 2028, and the Swedish Medical Association wants it to become a reality.
"Doctors' further education has more than halved over the past 20 years. Therefore, it is very pleasing that the investigator now proposes that doctors' right to further education should be regulated in legislation", says the association's chairperson Sofia Rydgren Stale in a press release.
Proposes healthcare lift
Another proposal in the inquiry is to introduce a healthcare professions lift. The idea is that the state should purchase further education from universities and colleges, and that employers should receive government grants to allow, for example, nurses, occupational therapists, and biomedical analysts to study part-time. The model is inspired by the teacher lift in schools.
The inquiry also proposes changes for certain professional groups. This includes, among other things, medical chiropodists who are proposed to get protected professional title in the autumn of 2029. Furthermore, specialist training (ST) is proposed for speech therapists and psychologists.
On the other hand, neither authorization nor protected professional title is proposed for dental hygienists, osteopaths, perfusionists, and medical care administrators.