AMMAN — In a meeting with the Lower House’s
Education Committee, Minister of Education Wajih Owais said 2,000 students will
enroll in medical faculties this year, a step which many contend will
exacerbate unemployment among in the heavily-saturated sector.
اضافة اعلان
Owais himself told the meeting that down the road,
the “graduates from the faculties of medicine in Jordan will not find jobs”
after they graduate, according to Ammon News.
Responding to the minister’s remarks, pulmonologist
Dr. Mohammad Al-Tarawneh said: “I agree with Owais because there is an
increasing number of Jordanian graduates from the faculties of medicine from
Jordan and abroad.”
The ministry of health appoints a relatively “low”
number of students in its institutions, according to Tarwaneh, who noted that
“each year, around 800 seats are allocated for medical specialties to which
around 3,000-4,000 doctors apply.”
“I believe that a lot of new graduates from medical
schools will struggle to find training, or job opportunities,” he told
Jordan
News. He pointed out that most graduates are currently looking for jobs, or
training abroad.
Tarawneh recommended that the government reduces the
number of seats allocated for medicine at universities to be enable graduates
to find jobs or training after graduation.
He also suggested drawing up a unified training
program or national residence program to encourage joint cooperation among
health sectors across the Kingdom.
“This plan would increase the human resources needed
in the medical sector,” he explained.
The government should also conclude agreements with
the Arab Board of Health Specialization, cooperate with relevant national
institutions, and sign agreements with different countries to increase training
and specialty opportunities for Jordanian doctors, he noted.
Investing in the health sector is the best asset for
Jordan because there is a shortage of doctors worldwide, but a surplus in the
Kingdom, Tarawneh proclaimed.
He said the government should look for a key
solution to the problem.
The former spokesperson of the Jordan Medical
Association, Maisam Al-Akroush, told
Jordan News that there is currently
38,000 students studying medicine, including some studying abroad.
She suggested that “the ministry must increase the
minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) for admission in the faculties of medicine
faculties outside the Kingdom.”
That way, she noted that the vetting system will
help justice to prevail, when only distinguished students carry on with
studying medicine.
She added that those who study abroad with a low GPA
become a burden on the medical sector “as most of them cannot find appropriate
jobs”.
Akroush pointed out that “each institution
designates standards to the qualifications needed in a doctor to be accepted
for the job,” explaining that those who study abroad do not score high.
In such cases, she contended that graduates of
non-Jordanian universities tend to open general practitioner clinics in Jordan.
Ali Kharisat, a doctor who graduated from Russia,
said he completed his studies in 2019, but could find a permanent job since. “I
am working at a 24-hour clinic, which is not satisfying for me,” he complained.
Kharisat agreed that the unemployment rate among
doctors will increase in the coming years, adding that there should be a
mechanism to help graduates find training, and job opportunities.
He also suggested that the number of students
admitted in the faculties of medicine should be reduced, in addition the Civil
Service Bureau should appoint more doctors and that would only be achieved if
the Ministry of Health increased its budget.
He speculated that one of the factors which
contribute to hiking the number of doctors is pressure coming from parents, who
seek to gloat about their children’s achievements in social gatherings.
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