Advantages and Disadvantages of Integration

Education and training for various sorts of health professionals, such as nurses, physicians, and technicians, take place in diverse institutions, yet curriculum overlap significantly. But, in the job, they must integrate and function as a team for the benefit of those who use their services. This strategy has various advantages and disadvantages for professional education in terms of expenditures, educational efficiency, and patient care quality (Shi & Singh, 2011).

Integration of health professionals is cost-effective since it allows for the acquisition of new skills in the course of duty without incurring any training costs. The development comes about with the opportunity to learn and work side by side with other professionals. On the other hand, the cost of medical training in schools is quite high yet only a few individuals are able to secure the available educational grants and scholarships. The nursing program, for instance, has several pathways for basic preparation and the costs for each pathway differ from the other. As a result, students bear different fee structures (Gurtner & Soyez, 2015).

The different educational pathways in the nursing program improve the efficiency of nurses in the industry as individuals specialize in certain areas (Hoff, Sutcliffe & Young, 2016). Coupled with integration, professionals are able to gain exposure from other fields of study they did not cover. However, the wide array of the nursing program causes confusion to the nursing community and the public in general.

According to Hoff, Sutcliffe, and Young (2016), the quality of patient care is highly dependent on the ability of healthcare professionals, particularly nurses who work in shifts, to strive to work together. Teamwork ensures that the services offered to patients are of better quality. Although the joint effort is of dire importance, not all professionals have the essential cooperation skills thereby hindering the productivity of their work.

Q.2 Causes of Persistent Mal-distribution of Physicians

Contrary to residents in the urban areas, many Americans in the rural and inner city areas have limited access to health care services, particularly services provided by physicians. Evidence shows that about 40% of the rural inhabitants experience the shortage of physicians (Shi & Singh, 2011). The mal-distribution of physicians is a persistent issue irrespective of the high number of physicians who graduated. A number of factors explain the cause of such an unfair distribution.

According to Shi and Singh (2011), the supply of physicians in rural and urban areas is highly dependent on the specialty mix. Among all other physicians, only family physicians account for the highest number of physicians in the rural areas as the distribution is proportional to the population in both urban and rural areas. However, all the others tend to base their operations in the urban region. Additionally, the degree of specialization also affects the distribution of physicians. In most cases, highly specialized physicians prefer urban areas to rural areas. As a result, the growth of physicians operating in urban areas is high.

The gender of the physicians graduating from medical school is another factor contributing to the persistent mal-distribution of physicians (Shi & Singh, 2011). Initially, male physicians dominated in the provision of medical services in the rural areas. Over the years, the number of women attending medical school is rising thereby reducing the wide gap between male and female physicians. However, women who are graduating are much less likely to operate in the rural areas as compared to men. Although the number of physicians is rising, the inclination of their operations to the urban sector is still not proportional to that of the rural region.

Q. 3 Challenges to the Existing Medical Education and Training System

The health care delivery system is evolving with the increasing health-related problems. The system now places more emphasis on maintenance of wellness and prevention of chronic diseases through supporting healthy lifestyles. Focus on these incentives provides opportunities for strengthening the public’s health thereby improving the status of the society as a whole (Hoff, Sutcliffe, & Young, 2016). However, these health cultures pose a number of challenges to the existing system of medical education and training.

According to Gurtner and Soyez (2015), too much emphasis on promoting wellness and prevention shifts the attention from reviewing the curriculum of medical training and the teaching methods as its successful integration does not depend on the new curriculum. Furthermore, allocation of more finances to support healthy lifestyles results in reduced funds for curriculum review and the resources needed to make these changes. Infrequent update of the curriculum affects the health care system as the trainees receive less information concerning the new competencies in the medical field. Therefore, the structure of the existing system of medical education and training weakens.

Additionally, for prevention and wellness programs to work effectively, comprehensive research is a requirement. However, too much emphasis on research and patient care might undermine the reward for teaching, which is a key component of advancing medical training and education (Gurtner & Soyez, 2015). Suppressing its value demeans the existing system of medical training. In conclusion, it is evident that medical education is not always in line with the maintenance of wellness and prevention of chronic diseases.

References

Gurtner, S., & Soyez, K. (2015). Challenges and Opportunities in Health Care Management.

Hoff, T., Sutcliffe, K. M., & In Young, G. J. (2016). The healthcare professional workforce: New directions in theory and practice.

Shi, L., & Singh, D. A. (2011). Delivering Health Care in America. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.