Healthcare professional - always a dream job?
A quarter of health professionals remain loyal to the profession in the long term: the vast majority move on to tertiary level in the health sector.
This statement is shown by the results of the first national career study published by the Swiss Observatory for Vocational Education and Training OBS SFIVET and the National Umbrella Organization of Health Professions OdASanté on the occasion of a conference on the topic. The profession of healthcare professional (FaGe) is extremely popular among young people of career choice age as an entry into the healthcare sector. Around a quarter of them stay in the profession for the long term. More than half, however, are already working in another profession five years after completing their apprenticeship. Health Profession, and one-fifth have left the healthcare industry altogether.
National Career Study from 2011
These results on the career paths of healthcare professionals come from a national career study for which 2000 healthcare professionals who graduated in 2011 were surveyed. The Swiss Observatory for Vocational Education and Training (OBS EHB) conducted the five-year study together with OdASanté, the national umbrella organization for the world of work in health. At a conference in Bern, OBS SFIVET and OdASanté presented the following results, among others:
- Five years after her Apprenticeship diploma 26 percent work in the learned profession of FaGe.
- 54 percent practice a tertiary-level profession in health care, mostly in nursing.
- 20 percent of graduates have left the healthcare industry. According to forecasts, another two years later, as many as 25 percent could no longer be working in the healthcare sector.
Healthcare professionals are in demand at both upper secondary and tertiary levels. Trained nurses are urgently needed not only in the labor market, but also at the higher technical colleges and universities of applied sciences as future certified nursing specialists. It is therefore very important to attract as many graduates as possible to the healthcare sector and to retain them there.
About 200 professionals from acute and long-term care, from Spitex and technical colleges discussed the most important future challenges arising from these results at the conference. On the one hand, it must become more attractive to work as a FaGe in the long term. The profession should not only be a dream job for young people as an entry-level profession. On the other hand, this must not restrict the important further qualification in higher vocational training and at the universities of applied sciences in health. Therefore, even more trained FaGe must remain in the healthcare sector.
Solutions on the part of those responsible for vocational training and companies could be:
- Implementing education strategy: targeted and needs-based training
- Offer career planning: offer apprentices attractive career paths in their own company and support them in their training and further education
- Leveraging diversity: Enabling switching between hospitals, homes and non-hospital care
- Offer flexibility: make working conditions and further training opportunities flexible to prevent career and industry exits
Further information and download trend report study: www.ehb.swiss/OBS-Tagung-2017
Text: Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research , www.odasante.ch, www.ehb.swiss
