Planning the medical workforce - an analysis of the third repport of the Medical Workforce Standing Advisory Committee

Arquivos de Medicina 1998; 12(4): 246-248

The third report of the Medical Workforcc Standing Advisory Committee, entitled: "The Planning of the Medical Workforce" was published in December of 1997. It addresses a current imbalance between demand for doctors and the domestic supply. The purpose of this article is to present the report to a Portuguese medical audience drawing attention to the methodology used and to the dimension of the problem. At a time when Portugal and the United Kingdom seem to have a similar problem with a shortage of doctors,but without unemployment, a rare situation in Europe, it is very important to learn the lessons from well conducted studies, despite the level of uncertainty always related with these projections. The report is divided into seven chapters with the foIlowing titles: introduction; summary of evidence; factors influencing demand; supply; balancing supply and demand: resources and risks; increasing students numbers - options, costs and benefits; recommendations.