One of the major issues facing organizations, such as the Western Australian Health Department, is the lack of available trained IT and medical personnel. To fill this gap, internationally trained medical personnel have been recruited to fill positions in rural Australia. However, even though these professionals are helping to fill this gap, there are many problems they bring with them, not the least of which is the different cultural background from which they come. In addition to the difficulties caused by the nature and location of the work, these professionals have language difficulties, culturally ingrained differences in interpersonal relationships, and often inadequate training for local conditions. Training is the preferred method for dealing with these difficulties and remote counseling is chosen as the ideal method for dealing with the problems of isolation and lack of peer groups in rural settings.
When filling IT and medical positions in rural Australia with foreign-trained IT professionals and medical personnel, organizations need to be ready to provide intensive English training to help these individuals to learn to communicate with their coworkers and their patients. (Rossi 2008) IT personnel have an easier time since interaction with others is less critical when the need concerns only the networks and computers in the operation. Mistakes due to miscommunication can be corrected with no harm done. However, in medical practice, miscommunication can result in great harm, even death, to patients, so it is of prime importance that the training quickly enables these international recruits to learn to communicate effectively with their patients and peers. (Hawkins 2005) Not only must they learn to speak well and record details correctly, but their ears must be trained to the local accents to overcome the language barrier. (Birrell, R.J., 2004).
Group training for cultural integration has been shown to help alleviate the cultural barriers which make working in rural areas very difficult. Foreign-trained medical personnel, in particular, need to learn things like personal space, body language, and doctor-patient relationships to be effective in their work. (Cole-Kelly K., 1994) They need to be able to establish the correct relationships with their patients and their peers and to control the interaction and minimize the differences. This is especially important when they will be dealing with individuals from other foreign countries and with the aboriginal culture.
Cameron (1998) points out that for foreign-trained IT and medical personnel, the isolation of rural practice may be especially difficult. Retention of this personnel is difficult and is being addresses using remote peer virtual meetings, online social groups and seminars, and provision for IT connections to colleagues in their countries of origin. Online socializing provides opportunities both for interpersonal connections and for additional training where foreign training may not be up to local standards. In this way, both the problems of isolation and the need for language and practical training are addressed.
Due to the nature of the rural practice, there will continue to be problems of personnel recruitment and retention, especially for IT and medical personnel. Training has long been a major part of HRM practice and is especially important in this context. Additional and intensive training and IT solutions are providing ways of alleviating the major problems for rural medical practices. With the additional training via remote connection, language and cultural difficulties are being addressed. In addition, these solutions provide connections to peers internationally and alleviate some of the isolation which troubles these workers. Additional training also addresses differences in skills among the various recruits and fills the gaps between their backgrounds and our locally trained personnel.
References
Rossi, Sandra, 2008, IT skills shortage criticized in Australia, Computerworld Australia (hs).
Birrell RJ. Australian policy on overseas-trained doctors. Med J 2004; 181: 635-639.
Cameron, Ian, 1998, Retaining a medical workforce in rural Australia, Medical Journal of Australia,Web.
Cole-Kelly K., 1994, Cultures engaging cultures: international medical graduates training in the United States. Fam Med 26: 618-624.
Hawken S. 2005, Overseas-trained doctors’ evaluation of a New Zealand course in professional development. N Z Med J 118: U1584.
Whelan GP. Commentary. Coming to America: the integration of international medical graduates into the American medical culture. Acad Med 2006; 81: 176-178.