Especialistas médicos: Brechas, realidad, futuro y necesidad de un esfuerzo nacional mancomunado

Abstract

This document is an official statement from "Corporación Nacional Autónoma de Certificación de Especialidades Médicas" (CONACEM), about the well-known gap between offer and need of medical specialists in Chile. A medical specialist is defined under high standard medical quality. Certification as a specialist can be obtained in three ways: a) being approved by a reputable university specialization program; b) fulfilling the requirements of a five year practical training program; c) be approved by a training program from another country which was validated in Chile. This article discusses factors which are increasing the need for specialists: no primary care operative medicine, geographic mal distribution, unequal distribution between public and private medical systems, demographic changes in the country, sociological changes of the population and deficits in health management. This article also considers elements that are limiting the supply of specialists, and discusses possible solutions (shortcomings of training programs, low contribution from the private sector, still insufficient state funding, and uncompetitive remunerations). Training in practice, which accounts for 35% of specialists, should be enhanced and improved on while maintaining the quality.