The lack of doctors, nurses, dentists, radiologists, and other medical personnel is severely affecting Thailand’s governmental hospitals. Due to overworked present staff, doctors in at least nine hospitals are required to work more than 64 hours each week.
In Thailand, there are 50,000–60,000 practicing physicians, according to the Medical Council. Of them, 24,600 work in public hospitals and are in charge of the 45 million Thais, or 70% of the country’s population, who are insured by the country’s universal health care system. Bangkok has a concentration of doctors.
The Ministry of Science, Research, and Innovations has set a target for Thai universities to produce 3,000 new doctors annually until 2027, plus an additional 10,000 doctors to be produced by the Ministry of Public Health, according to Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin, deputy permanent secretary for health.
However, he said that only approximately 2,700 doctors could be created annually because some students would not complete their studies on time.
According to Thaweesin, each medical student must complete six years of coursework as well as a year of internship before graduating. He added that the Medical Council has mandated an additional year for medical students to obtain more experience.
He claimed that the interns are overworked since they must also instruct medical students in addition to working at public hospitals.
In comparison to the typical 40 hours per week, doctors work over 64 hours a week at nine state hospitals, over 52 hours a week at 11 hospitals, and over 50 hours a week at four hospitals.
He claimed that the lack of personnel, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, has prevented the Ministry of Public Health from doing much to lessen the workloads of physicians and other medical personnel.
Over 450 doctors have left state hospitals in the past three years; many of them are now working in private hospitals because they are less burdensome and pay more. Dr. Taweesin claims that 200 more medical professionals have retired.
Another justification given for young doctors leaving public hospitals after only a few years of service is the lack of adequate housing options for physicians practicing in the provinces.
