Thai medical personnel crisis

Thai medical personnel crisis

It is not the only one facing Thailand, but one of the crises that reflects the challenges of the whole system.

Anyone who was born, raised and still stands to act in this era has passed a heavy test.

Many talk about "producing more doctors" as the solution to the problem, but in reality, increasing the number of medical students is just the beginning of a more complex equation.

Doctor Supply = Medical Students × Training Capacity × Retention Rate × Work Sustainability

Or in other words,

Number of doctors in the system = Number of medical students × Training potential × Persistence rate in the system × Sustainability of work

If only the number of students is increased, but the training potential is the same, this equation will not produce better results.

Behind every medical student is a medical professor who works under several hats.

Be a patient healer.

Is the teacher of a medical student.

Be the home medical practitioner.

Be a mentor to personnel on the health team.

Researchers, executives and service systems developers.

At the same time, they are humans.

There are families to care for, there are parents, there are children, there are relationships, there are physical and mental health that need to be cared for no differently.

As the workload continues to increase, but resources, time, and manpower do not increase at the same rate, what is used up first is often not talent, but people's power.

The term Work Sustainability does not refer to the longest work, but to the design of systems that enable people to work with quality and quality of life.

Doctors should have adequate rest time, space to learn and improve themselves, have a team that helps lighten the burden, be supported by the organization, and feel safe asking for help when tired.

Because sustainable work is not exhaustion, but happiness, meaning, and comfort in the next day.

A good system should therefore measure not only the number of doctors produced, but also the number of doctors who still love the profession, still have a working smile, and can also care for patients with a powerful heart.

Preventing Burnout and Overshadowing is not the responsibility of personnel alone, but the shared responsibility of the entire system, from policy, manpower management, organizational culture to designing work environments conducive to both efficiency and humanity.

After all, the crisis of the Thai public health system may not be a shortage of "good people."

But the system has not yet been able to make those great people work in a sustainable manner.

Producing more doctors is not just an increase in the number of seats, but an investment in the entire system, from the quality of learning, the potential for training, support for doctors, to creating a work environment that makes people want to live, grow and use their full potential.

Because in the end, what patients need is not just more doctors.

But to have a doctor who is also powerful, has time, is happy, and still has the heart to take care of people to their full potential.

After all, the goal of physician production should be not just to increase quantity, but to build quality and sustainability of both personnel and health systems along the way.

Production of one doctor does not end on the day of graduation, but also includes having a teacher with quality teaching time, adequate training resources, a strong support team, and a functional system that allows personnel to grow in the profession without any exchange for physical health, mental health, or life relationships.

The sustainability of the health system is therefore not just the presence of more doctors on the register, but the presence of doctors who remain on the system with pride, work meaningfully, are happy, and have the power to care for their patients to their full potential along the professional path.

When people have a good quality of life, the likelihood of Burnout and Overwhelming decreases, the retention rate increases, the quality of care improves, and the health system becomes more stable in the long run.

Because in the end, medical care is not the cost of the system, but the most important investment so that the health system can take care of the people in the future.