The case in summary Many young doctors in specialization experience a bad start to their hospital career, and many end up quitting. The medical association’s member survey shows that 46 per cent of the 9,614 who took part do not want or are unsure whether they want to work in a hospital in two years’ time. The hospital in Østfold is the first in South-Eastern Health to introduce a sponsorship scheme in all departments to improve the working environment and prevent doctors from quitting. The sponsorship arrangement means that every new doctor gets a doctor sponsor who helps them at the start. The sponsorship scheme has proven to be successful, and has been made into a separate innovation project in Health South-East. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Imagine that you arrive on your first day of work. You are brand new and may not know a soul. And what happens? No one introduces you to new colleagues. No one tells you where you can get a cup of coffee or where the toilet is. No one says you can ask them if you’re up to something. This is the everyday for many young doctors who start in specialisation, so-called LIS, in hospitals around about in the country. Doctors in specialization have often been left to fend for themselves in hospitals. Photo: Vilde Helljesen / news Several of them flee from the hospital job. The medical association’s member survey, prepared by Rambøll, shows that 46 per cent of the 9,614 who took part do not want or are unsure whether they want to work in a hospital in two years’ time. This corresponds to almost five thousand doctors. Now the hope is that a new sponsorship arrangement can help solve the problem. The hospital in Østfold is the first to introduce the scheme in all departments. The work started in September. Lost 19 colleagues in one year Cathrine Kristoffersen is the name of the mastermind behind the sponsorship scheme. She started her medical specialization at the hospital in Vestfold in 2018. The start was not good. – The welcome was bad and the work was strenuous. The worst part was that my colleagues quit all the time. Within 14 months, she lost 19 out of 30 colleagues. Cathrine Kristoffersen is a doctor at the hospital in Vestfold and the sponsoring scheme’s “mother”. Photo: The hospital in Vestfold – For those of us who stayed, there was an extremely large amount of overtime. And when the work tasks become so numerous that it hinders learning, the motivation to work may fall. It became a vicious spiral. She began to ponder what it would take to get her colleagues to stay. Kristoffersen agreed that the solution was to create a sponsorship arrangement. Leiinga said yes, and in 2021 she started the job. A hand to hold on to – I took hold of what I felt I was missing myself. A good working environment, the feeling of belonging and having someone to talk to, although it was a bit difficult. In March 2023, the sponsorship scheme was born at the hospital in Vestfold. Each new doctor who was going to specialize in Kristoffersen’s department had their own doctor-sponsor who contacted them before they started their job. Who met them on their first day of work Who showed them around and introduced them to their colleagues Who was someone they could ask for help A sponsor turned out to be just what the younger doctors needed. – So far, 29 doctors have received a sponsor. Only six of them have quit. This year, the scheme was made into a separate innovation project in Helse Sør-Öst. This is how the sponsorship scheme works in brief About two weeks before the new doctor starts, the sponsor calls. The new doctor receives information about the scheme and learns that the first day at work is “father’s day”. The new doctor spends the entire first day at work with his godfather. The sponsor tells about the department, has a tour and tells about what the role of a doctor in specialization entails. After two weeks, the sponsor contacts the new doctor again to find out how things are going and whether more training is needed. When six months have passed, the sponsor calls again to check how the new doctor is doing and if there is anything she or he needs help with. Embarrassingly long time When the project started in April, the idea was that the sponsorship scheme should be introduced in half of the medical departments in the health region. – But already in June, all the medical departments were involved, says Kristoffersen. That says something about how great the need is, believes Andreas Moan, who is project director at Helse Sør-Öst. Andreas Moan, project director at Health South-East. Photo: Helse Sør-East RHF – I have never seen an innovation project that has spread so quickly. He says it is embarrassing that it has taken so long for hospitals to understand that new doctors must be properly welcomed. Important signal The leader of the younger doctors in the Norwegian Medical Association, Ingeborg Henriksen, says they also often hear about doctors who feel alone when they start in hospitals. She believes that it is high time that a measure such as the sponsoring scheme was introduced. Ingeborg Henriksen, leader of the younger doctors in the Norwegian Medical Association. Photo: Sturlason / Yngre legers forening – That the employer and Health South-East recognize the need and want to prioritize it is a very important signal. At the same time, she says that the sponsorship scheme in no way replaces the employer’s responsibility. First with a sponsor for all Òg at the hospital at Kalnes in Østfold, new doctors have been left to fend for themselves. Until no. The sponsorship scheme started in the medical department, and Sophie Asperud is one of the doctors who has been given a sponsor. She started the job only a few weeks ago. She knows what it’s like to be left to her own devices. Birgitte Brandt is the education coordinating senior physician. Sophie Asperud is a specialist doctor. Photo: Sykehuset Østfold She has experienced this in other hospitals. At Kalnes it is different. – A feeling of a little anxiety that you don’t think you have. Here, people looked forward to being met, and that there was a clear plan for the first few days. Sophie will be far from the only new doctor at the hospital who gets a sponsor. Birgitte Brandt, who is a senior doctor and is responsible for ensuring that specialist training for doctors works as it should, says that the system will be introduced in all departments. This makes the hospital in Østfold the first in Helse South-East where all new doctors will receive a sponsor. Old medical culture So why has it taken so long before something has been done for the newly appointed doctors? – It has to do with tradition. Doctors have just received their entry card and been thrown straight into work. Helge Stene-Johansen says so. Helge Stene-Johansen, managing director at the hospital in Østfold, says young doctors should get a better start. Photo: Sykehuset Østfold He is managing director at the hospital in Østfold, and has been a doctor himself for many years. But now his hospital is taking hold of the old, and probably bad, traditions. – One has become much more aware that younger doctors need good guidance in order to thrive in their job. And it seems that the sponsorship system and guidance are already working. Sophie says that she feels so well that she thinks she will stay. Hello, Thank you for reading the case. Feel free to get in touch if you have thoughts about the article or have other issues you think I should address. Published 16/10/2024, at 21.25
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How the sponsorship scheme can reduce the shortage of doctors in hospitals – news Østfold – Local news, TV and radio
