- The recruitment of medical specialists arose from the shortage of personnel that the authorities say exists in Mexico.
- Although the first stage has already concluded, it is expected that there will be two other stages to hire more doctors.
- The biggest complaint of the doctors is that the problem of insecurity that prevails throughout the country has not yet been solved.
During the first stage of the National Day of Recruitment and Hiring of Medical Specialists, the federal government has hired 2,253 applicants out of 4,494 accredited. This is a strategy that was launched to combat the lack of personnel in the national territory.
Within the framework of the press conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the general director of the IMSS, Zoé Robledo, recalled that from May 24 to June 3, the Specialist Physician Recruitment Day to cover 14 thousand 323 vacancies. During this period, 4,494 doctors attended and were accredited for the next stage of the process.
In which institutions were the specialists hired?
He pointed out that on Friday, July 1, the first round of contracting medical specialists by institution concluded. The state governments, attached to the Institute of Health for Welfare (Insabi) hired 1,188; the IMSS to 702; the Institute of Security and Social Services for State Workers (Issste) 202; Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) 31; IMSS-WELFARE 119 and the national institutes 11.
“That is, it is a total of 2,253 specialists who have already been hired,” said Zoé Robledo.
The head of Social Security explained that specialist doctors are still required and that at the end of the first round there are still vacancies in the main specialties. In Internal Medicine, 1,676 are needed, in Surgical Medical Emergencies, 1,583, Gynecology and Obstetrics, 1,331, Pediatrics, 1,366, Anesthesiology, 1,17 and in General Surgery, 850.
He pointed out that the rest of the 2,241 doctors who were already accredited, there will be two more rounds. The second round is underway and will close on July 7, and the third will start on July 13.
“And once these two more stages are completed, the intention is to hire the largest number of medical specialists.”
The general director of the IMSS highlighted that on July 18 the call for vacancies will be opened permanently, but with a new modality. As soon as a doctor can certify your ID, all the data they need and make known your interest in one of the vacancies.
Was the call a failure?
Analyzing the interest of medical personnel, some affirm that this initiative failed. According to the authorities, it was planned to cover 14,000 vacancies, but in the end there were only a little more than four thousand interested parties who completed the registration on the internet.
While in the end there were only a total of two thousand 253 contracted specialists. With this, the figure is too low, although it is expected that in the following stages the total number of available spaces will be completed.
For their part, the biggest complaint from doctors is that this call for recruitment of doctors does not solve the underlying problem. Specifically, they affirm that the insecurity that exists in rural areas is responsible for alienating staff. Cases of assaults and even murders against interns, interns and professional doctors are constantly reported.