Tilda Jalakas is SFS's student representative in SUHF's expert group for professional education in healthcare and participated on March 26 at SUHF's national conference to raise the student perspective. Here is Tilda reporting from the conference!
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Today I had the great privilege of participating for the third time at SUHF's conference for professional education in healthcare. This time I did this as a student representative in SUHF's expert group that was responsible for planning.
The day began with wise thoughts from Annika Östman Wernersson, President of Karolinska Institutet and Björn Eriksson, Director General of the National Board of Health and Welfare. They highlighted the challenges the sector faces with national attrition, with Medicine, Health Sciences and Dentistry accounting for the worst cost development over time of all educational fields. They highlighted the need for clearer career paths for clinicians who engage in educational assignments and the importance of retaining employees in the health and medical sector.
The new composition of the National Council for Healthcare Competence (NVKR) was presented and the council's continued ambition is to act as a free arena for opinion and thinking. Since the turn of the year, the council has consisted of, among others, two directors general and three rectors – which entails a large authority mandate and an opportunity for new influence. The issue of national student representation in the NVKR and the regional healthcare competence councils was raised and received a positive response from the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer and Director General.
The day continued with input from two ongoing investigations, Qualifications and professional regulation in healthcare and dentistry, which will be submitted on June 3, and the Investigation into cooperation between higher education institutions regarding professional education in healthcare.
The day ended with a student panel consisting of myself, Filippa Alesand Lundin (Consensus – Faculty of Medicine Student Union, LiU) and Jasmine Wikberg (Physiotherapist Section, Medical Association, KI). Student issues raised and discussed during the day were briefly:
- Additional costs for VFU – possibility of coordination with a common SUHF policy.
- University-driven incentives for student engagement and better conditions for students who are committed to adapting mandatory elements.
- Increased collaboration to stimulate more student influence in specialist nursing education.
- Plan and enable student representation when multiple unions are involved.
- Doctoral students' context and well-being in smaller research areas and the importance of belonging in graduate school.
The common consensus was that more resources are needed for professional education in healthcare. Martin Norsell said in his closing remarks of the day that the collaboration that is now taking place to increase collaboration is an example and benchmark for other areas of education with similar problems.
“The time is now” – I take with me the overall feeling that permeated all the discussions at the conference. The feeling of taking control of the issue before someone else does and thereby strengthening the autonomy of higher education institutions.