The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) announced on Tuesday, June 18, that they are preparing a "master plan" to present to President Marcos, aimed at addressing the shortage of healthcare workers in the Philippines.
During the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing between CHED and UNILAB for the Training of Trainers Program on Suicide Prevention and Awareness in Higher Education Institutions, CHED Chairperson Prospero "Popoy" de Vera III shared with the media their three-year action plan.
He said this plan will be presented to President Marcos on June 19 and is based on assessments conducted with industry experts.
"We're now going into the other programs because from the hospitals, from industry, they're saying that the next batch na kukulangin na tayo includes physical therapy, medtech, radiologic technology, occupational therapy," De Vera said.
(We are now addressing other programs because, according to the hospitals and the industry, the next areas where we will be lacking include physical therapy, medical technology, radiologic technology, and occupational therapy).
"So now we are developing a master plan. According to the assessment of the industry and experts, it’s not as critical as the nursing shortage right now," he added in a mix of English and Filipino.
De Vera noted that this initiative will outline strategies to increase the number of professionals, incentivize the stay-pay bill, and implement other measures for these professions.
Meanwhile, addressing nursing graduates, De Vera underscored that CHED will provide fully funded review classes for 500 graduates aiming to take the Philippine Nurses Licensure Examination (NLE).
"For nurses, 51 percent of all registered nurses are practicing their professions overseas. So only 49 percent are left here, not all are nurses anymore," he said.
"Out of the 49 percent, about 25 percent are in hospitals. The rest are in call centers. Nursing graduates opt for call center jobs because they can earn higher salaries there due to medical transcription opportunities," he explained.
