Training and employment of health professionals in Spain: analysis of imbalance

Abstract

Our objective is to analyze the frictions and imbalances related to the training and the employment of health professionals in Spain. Data are presented and the consequences of imbalances in the endowments of professionals are discussed, including absolute figures and relative figures of the endowments between nurses and physicians. The age pyramids of the physicians and their territorial distribution are analysed. We also studied the changes that have been made in the pregraduate programs of Health Sciences in Spain and their adaptation to the required professional profiles. The university has been deprived from its previous competences in the global training process of physicians. The current imbalances between training and employment emerge from the miopic planning of the past. After the diagnosis of imbalances, the paper provides some recommendations regarding educational and labour policies.