The government has floated a plan to revoke subsidies for doctors who take specialist courses at state medical schools and then go on to work at private hospitals after they graduate.
HIGHER YEARNING: A freshman celebrates during the ‘CU 1st Date, First Page of Our Memory’ welcome party at Chulalongkorn University yesterday. The party followed the release of the names of the successful candidates in the central university admission exams. PHOTO: PATIPAT JANTHONG
The plan is a part of an attempt to prevent a drain of medical specialists into the private health sector following the government's medical hub project.
Speaking on the weekly television programme Prime Minister Yingluck Meets the People, Public Health Minister Pradit Sinthawanarong said the medical hub project would not affect the number of specialists as many claimed.
He said the government planned to lift subsidies for doctors who train in specialist areas and work for the private sector. Only those who work for the state sector would have their training, which takes three to six years, subsidised.
Currently, medical schools at state universities subsidise the training of all postgraduate medical students regardless of whether they work in the state or private sectors.
However, Dr Pradit told the Bangkok Post Sunday that state medical schools had recently held discussions with the ministry to change the subsidy system for specialty training in areas such as surgery, obstetrics and emergency medicine. The programmes are currently funded by the universities under a requirement that the students must work for university hospitals while studying as part of their training.
But under the new policy, doctors from private hospitals who want to take courses will have to pay the tuition costs themselves or work for state hospitals if they want a state subsidy.
For physicians from state hospitals who are funded by the government, they must make a commitment to work in state-owned hospitals for a designated time after their graduation. If they decide to leave the state system before their committed years are over, said Dr Pradit, they may be required to pay back double the amount they received in subsidy.
He believed that access to the funds would encourage specialists to take up positions at state hospitals.
The idea will be further discussed in detail by the government and the universities.
Thanya Subhadrabandhu, the deputy dean of Ramathibodi Hospital's medical faculty, said most universities agreed with the idea. He said many university hospitals had been struggling to make a profit because of high costs.
Dr Thanya believed government funding of post-graduate medical students would solve the problem of a specialist shortage in state-owned hospitals.
For the medical hub plan, Dr Pradit said the project would focus mainly on private hospital health services for foreign patients while most state hospitals would focus on medical techniques and technology as well as research development.
He said about one million foreign patients used Thailand's medical services last year and had spent around 140 billion baht. The government anticipates that revenue from foreign patients will grow by 10% each year over the next five years.
He said details of the government's medical hub plan would be finalised over the next six weeks during meetings between state and private health agencies and universities. It would then be submitted for cabinet approval.
According to the Health Ministry, Thailand has 43,424 physicians working at public and private hospitals nationwide.
Dr Pradit said 22,641 temporary medical staff, including 17,000 nurses, would be upgraded from contract workers to full-time government employees in the next three years.