Professional Education: Background
The United States healthcare education system is designed in such a way that professionals go through different institutions with unique curricula and training requirements. While considerable overlap exists, most of these practitioners are compelled to identify some of the possible differences and integrate their skills. In the working environment, they need to complement each other and focus on the best ways to improve care delivery (Sultz & Young, 2018). Such a framework continues to present both negative and positive outcomes. A proper understanding of its implications on the issues of care delivery, educational efficiency, and costs could support the formulation of better curricula procedures in the country.
Costs
The professional education system in the American healthcare sector allows institutions to develop their own curriculum depending on the anticipated goals. However, considerable overlap in the training requirements is evident. Such a framework results in increased national costs in the training of experts. This problem arises from the duplication of academic exercises. Additionally, medical institutions are compelled to offer additional training to workers obtained from different learning institutions and streamline their activities. The notable advantages include the ability to identify schools with affordable fees and flexible courses (Sultz & Young, 2018). The decision to allow learning institutions to formulate their courses creates a sense of competition, thereby ensuring that most of the graduates possess the much-needed skills.
Educational Efficiency
In the U.S., the promoted learning frameworks make it possible for schools to formulate and develop courses with attainable objectives. Such facilities provide the relevant guidelines and competencies depending on the needs of individual learners. Individuals can, therefore, select the most appropriate schools. Despite these benefits, this framework results in the duplication of learning activities, a trend that triggers increasing costs in the educational process (Sultz & Young, 2018). Most of the graduates will have divergent skills and abilities. Dokova (2018) observes that many health institutions offer additional training to ensure that their practitioners possess the required competencies. This move is critical since it ensures that quality healthcare services are available to more patients.
Patient Care Quality
The existence of different learning institutions with diverse curricula requirements allows beneficiaries to develop unique competencies that help improve care delivery. Most of the graduates possess appropriate skill sets that are applicable in different settings. Such schools engage in curricula improvements, thereby maximizing the abilities of the learners (Sultz & Young, 2018). However, the diversity in competencies could disorient the process of delivering personalized services. Notable gaps might emerge if some institutions offer substandard education, thereby affecting the overall quality of care delivery.
Maldistribution of Physicians
The maldistribution of physicians in the United States remains a common challenge in the wider healthcare sector. Specifically, most of the urban areas continue to record an oversupply of physicians in the country. On the other hand, rural settings are underserved due to the absence of adequate caregivers. This mal-distribution continues to disorient the overall process of care delivery. Consequently, the government can consider evidence-based approaches to address this predicament.
Oversupply in Urban Areas
The increasing number of graduates in the United States has done little to address the issue of physician distribution. Urban centers have more professionals due to the existing opportunities and remunerations. Most of the graduates choose to work in such regions since they study and live there. Most of the policies put in place are not designed to address such a gap. The possible outcome is that most of the regions with a reduced number of physicians record poor health experiences.
Rural and Inner-City Areas
Most of the rural and inner-city areas in this country are characterized by the systemic problem of physician shortage despite the increasing number of graduates. Such areas have unique features that discourage workers from providing their services. The harsh conditions, poor infrastructure, and poor interventions by state governments explain the nature of this reality (Sultz & Young, 2018). Most of the citizens in such areas eventually record poor health experiences. Mennin (2021) argues that individuals working in rural settings lack sources of motivation, such as competitive remunerations and favorable working environments.
Healthcare Delivery System: Wellness and Disease Avoidance
In the recent past, more scholars have begun to promote healthy behaviors in an effort to prevent a wide range of diseases. Wellness programs are becoming common to empower more patients and prevent diseases. These changes continue to transform the overall image of the healthcare sector (Sultz & Young, 2018). It is evident that the new focus will change the nature and process of educating more physicians and healthcare practitioners in the future.
Potential Challenges
The U.S. is experiencing a new orientation whereby learning institutions might be compelled to provide additional training in wellness, behavioral change, and disease prevention strategies. Such a goal might compel all professionals to pursue additional training and acquire the needed skills. The government will be required to incur additional costs to transform the entire educational system (Sultz & Young, 2018). This trend might fail to deliver positive results if most of the stakeholders, such as patients, remain noncommittal. Consequently, the healthcare sector will be unable to achieve most of the anticipated objectives.
The proposed new orientation means that most of the educational programs should be revised to focus on desirable disease prevention and wellness practices. The government will need to recruit professionals and scholars to undertake additional research to inform the change. Most of the institutions with inadequate resources might take longer to transition and achieve their goals. More qualified practitioners will be compelled to go back to school if they are to improve their competencies (Sultz & Young, 2018). The suggested approach will also shift the current focus in such a way that students ignore most of the existing disease management and treatment protocols. A detailed analysis of these challenges is necessary to present the best strategy to support a new orientation in the education system.
References
Dokova, A. (2018). Challenges for the training of health professionals through international university partnerships. Journal of IMAB – Annual Proceeding, 24(4), 2205-2209.
Mennin, S. (2021). Ten global challenges in medical education: Wicked issues and options for action. Medical Science Educator, 31(2), 17-20.
Sultz, H. A., & Young, K. A. (2018). Health care USA: Understanding its organization and delivery (10th ed.). Jones & Bartlett.