Difficult to train more biomedical analysts even though more people want to study
In Wednesday's broadcast of The Morning Studio SVT reported that there is a major shortage of lab staff during the corona pandemic. More people now want to train as biomedical analysts, who are the ones who analyze covid samples. Despite an increased demand for studies, there are problems related to increasing the number of training places.
“It’s a catch-22,” Dick Wågsäter, program coordinator at Uppsala University, tells SVT. The country’s severe staff shortage means that workplaces cannot accept more students from the biomedical analyst programs for internships and on-the-job training, VFU.
Students need to complete an internship and VFU in order to complete their education. This lack of space means that the programs cannot accept more students despite increased demand.
On-the-job training
VFU means that part of the education is based in a workplace, where the student learns the practical knowledge needed to practice the profession. It is a mandatory part of, for example, teacher training and health and medical education. If there are not enough VFU places, bottlenecks can arise, as has happened for the biomedical analyst programs.
There is a risk that the corona pandemic will make it more difficult for students to get a VFU place or that infection will prevent students from completing VFU. At the same time, for example, a survey of University Chancellor's Office, UKÄ, that most of the VFU in healthcare has been implemented despite the corona pandemic.
Dimensioning higher education
The number of places per education, also known as dimensioning, is a central and current issue in higher education. For SFS, it is student demand and the conditions for high quality in education that should guide the issue of dimensioning education.
A counterargument that is sometimes used against letting student demand dictate is that students do not consider the needs of the labor market when choosing their education. Something that contradicts this claim is that there is generally a balance between the number of students who are educated in different fields and the future needs of the labor market, according to data from UKA.
The government has previously increased the number of training places in shortage professions, such as the teaching program. However, an increase in the number of places does not automatically mean that more people will graduate. It may be that more students do not apply even though there are more places, or because students choose not to complete the education for various reasons. In the case of the biomedical analyst programs, the situation would not be solved by more training places because there is a lack of capacity for the operations to accept more students for internships and VFU. It is therefore important not to try to solve the shortage of trained personnel in various professions through detailed control.