Most health care graduates 'will find a job'

The Institute of Health Care (IHC) is confident that the needs of the health services in Malta will enable most of the 68 new health professionals to find a job.

Thirteen radiographers, 14 physiotherapists, 21 communication therapists and 20 medical lab scientists who finished their course this year are still looking for a job because, unlike health professionals who graduated in other years, they were not employed by the government.

Contacted last week, Health Director General Ray Busuttil said a re-evaluation of the staffing levels in the public health sector was still underway.

Health care professionals were automatically recruited by the government at a time when there had been a shortage and when the soaring recurrent expenditure of the health sector was not considered a major concern.

Answering questions put by The Times on the prospects of health care professions, IHC director Sandra Buttigieg said that though most IHC graduates have been employed by the government so far, the new graduates might have to start looking to the private sector for a job.

Graduates complained they found it difficult to get a job in private clinics or hospitals since these required a certain level of working experience. Was this an impression or was it true?

"The government has been the prime employer. Even though the private sector has also managed to attract a significant number of our graduates, our graduates did not actively have to seek employment in the private sector so far, as they were always absorbed within the public sector," Dr Buttigieg said, adding that the private sector may also wish to recruit fresh graduates who would then maintain their professional development on the job.

Asked if the IHC tried to get the private sector on board to launch new professionals into the sector, Dr Buttigieg said the institute had always held stakeholders in high regard. "The private sector has accepted students from some disciplines to carry out their clinical attachments as part of the course requirements," she said.

But have new entrants been warned that they will not automatically be employed by the government when they finish the course?

Dr Buttigieg said the IHC did not guarantee employment following successful completion of a course. "However, students who seek information on employment are assisted in a personal capacity. We are interested to see that our graduates do indeed find suitable employment," she said.

"We are confident that due to the current needs of the health services in Malta, most of our graduates will succeed in securing employment."

Whereas students normally received a stipend of Lm64 every four weeks, IHC students had a stipend of Lm81. This was considered as an incentive for more science students to opt for those courses where there had been a gap, even though some courses only open every two years while a numerus clausus is imposed on others.

"Most of the courses run by the IHC are offered for commencement every year. However, in the case of occupational therapy and communication therapy these are offered in alternate years," Dr Buttigieg said.

A limit on the number of students has been placed on the course leading to a BSc (Hons) in physiotherapy (15 students) and this year a limit was also placed on the number of students wishing to join the diploma course in nursing studies (30 students).

In September, about 80 new nurses had also encountered problems getting a job with the public health sector. They were eventually employed after pressure from the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses.