Aleksandra Kita

Coordination as an element of modern medical care in oncology

The number of patients suffering from chronic diseases, including oncology, has been systematically increasing in recent years. There is a shortage of doctors and nurses in Poland, and the actions taken within the healthcare system, they focus primarily on securing typically medical needs. Staff in medical facilities are often unable to fully meet the needs of patients. For the treatment to be effective, it must be carried out with the participation of a patient who should experience the greatest comfort and sense of security during therapy. The patient should also have full knowledge about his condition and receive information enabling him to find himself in the health care system. Modern medical care should also include non-medical aspects of patient support. Numerous publications indicate the importance of comprehensive healthcare. It is not possible to build an optimal model of care for a chronically ill patient without strengthening medical staff. The experience of people who, since 2015, have been coordinating oncological treatment as part of their duties, indicates that treatment coordination must be formalized and assigned to a specific person should belong to the duties of this professional category in order to deprive this process of signs of randomness. Therefore, it becomes necessary, firstly, to model and define this function precisely, and secondly, to begin the systematic and comprehensive education of future coordinators. 

Przygotowanie do wydania elektronicznego finansowane w ramach umowy 637/P-DUN/2019 ze środków Ministerstwa Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego przeznaczonych na działalność upowszechniającą naukę.

Conditions for introducing a new medical profession (physician assistant) in the polish health care system

Shortage of medical staff is a growing problem in most countries, also in Poland. There is a growing demand for medical staff in connection with longer life expectancy and on a macro scale, the aging of society. An important idea for reducing this problem is to introduce new medical professions. However, this issue arouses controversy and opinions on it are divided. The paper presents data on the number of physicians in Poland compared to other European countries and discusses selected proposals related to attempts to improve the situation in this area. Reference has also been made to the example of the United States, where physician assistants have been functioning for many years. Moreover, the current outline of a proposal for the occupation of a physician assistant in Poland has been presented, with particular emphasis on specialization in “surgical physician assistance”. The paper also presents the results of the author’s study on the attitude of primary care physicians towards new medical professions and refers to the opinions of the medical community in this respect, mainly from websites. Finally, the paper presents conclusions and recommendations for further actions related to the introduction of new medical professions in the country.