Double specialization in residency? The medical association has a way to address staffing shortages

The Presidium of the Supreme Medical Council is proposing a change in the rules for postgraduate training of physicians and dentists, which would allow a second specialization to be done in a residency mode. The postulate refers to proposals made earlier by the Ministry of Health and is intended as a response to growing staff shortages in many fields of medicine. The current Article 16ea of the Law on the Profession of Physician and Dentist restricts access to residency only to physicians without specialization. In the Bureau's view, this provision should be amended to allow a second specialization to be started as part of a residency, provided that at least one of the specializations is in a field considered a priority.

Incentive mechanism for priority specializations

The proposed solution assumes that a doctor with a priority specialty would be able to start a second specialty in both a priority and a non-priority field; a doctor with a non-priority specialty would be able to take up residency only in a priority field. According to the Presidium of the NRL, such an approach would create a real systemic incentive to choose specialties that are crucial to the functioning of the health care system. Previous incentive mechanisms, such as higher base salaries for residents in priority fields, have proven insufficient.

Response to staff shortages

The medical association stresses that allowing the acquisition of two specializations - one of which would be a priority specialization - could increase the number of doctors in the most scarce areas of medicine. At the same time, this solution reduces the professional risk of young doctors, for whom the choice of only the priority specialty is sometimes fraught with uncertainty regarding their future career path. In the NRL's opinion, the prospect of obtaining a second specialization as part of a residency could induce more physicians to undertake training in areas of particular public health need.

Residency as the preferred mode of training

The Presidium of the NRL once again stressed that residency remains the best mode of specialization. It ensures stability of employment and remuneration throughout the training period, which is of particular importance, among other things, when exercising parental rights. In addition, the residency mode allows doctors to fully focus on acquiring professional qualifications, unlike specializations under the non-residency mode, where training often has to be combined with additional professional or scientific duties. The proposed changes - in the opinion of the Medical Council - could become an important element of the reform of postgraduate medical education and a real support for the health care system in Poland.

Priority fields are medical specialties considered by the Ministry of Health to be crucial to the functioning of the health care system due to staff shortages and the growing health needs of society. Their list is published in the form of a regulation and includes such areas as family medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry or anesthesiology and intensive care, among others. Doctors undertaking training in these areas can count on additional incentives, such as higher residency salaries and preferences in access to training places.

Source: NIL