“Cancer treatment facilities rescuer: Seniors”
“a Very large shortage of pathologists: Would not do without them.”
“There is a great shortage of pathologists in Sweden.”
“A large number of seniors saves the business – the oldest is 77 years.”
“We could not do without them,” says professor Irina Alafuzoff at the Academic hospital in Uppsala.”
“the Journal Dagens Medicin has been asked 38 specialistföreningar of the medical association of how the availability of specialists looks. The survey shows that the lack of allergologer, lungmedicinare and pathologists is very large – so large that they will have a hard time to learn the new specialist.”
“The widespread shortage of pathologists, has been a major problem in Sweden since the 1990s.”
“– We have trained too few, ” says Irina Alafuzoff, chairman of the Swedish society of pathology, professor of pathology and consultant at the Academic hospital in Uppsala.”
“Patologerna analyzes tissue samples under a microscope, mainly in the case of suspected cancer, to look for pathological changes. It is necessary to be able to make the right diagnosis and put into the proper treatment.”
“today there are 294 pathologists who are clinically active.”
“– But it would have to be closer to 400 pathologists, ” says Irina Alafuzoff.”
“the Situation would be catastrophic, if it were not for the ”pensioners” in the corps. The business is saved by 67 seniors.”
“– We can handle the task reasonably, narrowly, thanks to the fact that pensioners are working. We would not do without them, ” she says.”
“– But we are understaffed.”
“I have become the Irina Alafuzoff 67 in the spring, but do not intend to go into retirement:”
“– I continue to work for another few years.”
“the Situation be saved even by foreign pathologists who actively recruited from other EU countries since 2011. This year there were only 195 pathologists in the whole of Sweden.”
“– But it starts to become a problem even in Europe. So we will not be able to get the pathologists from the rest of Europe in the same extent as in the past, ” says Irina Alafuzoff.”
“the Availability of pathologists vary across the country. “
“– It is very uneven in different regions. Most hospitals are understaffed. All feel that they are too few.”
“What is the result of the lack of pathologists?”
“– That we can’t do all the things we should do. We have time to take care of the urgent.”
“The long-term development work becomes, for example, suffering. However, all patients should not be there. “
” We try to work very structured with the quality, with the goal that patients should never suffer. It is absolutely not allowed to cut corners or produce something that is not of a good quality. It is, therefore, that there may be a delay in the results, ” says Irina Alafuzoff.”
“the Priority is clear.”
“– We will first take care of the patient samples. We always give priority to patients with suspected cancer. The other patients have to wait longer on their test results.”
“– But in the pile it can prove later that it was cancer. It is not so common. But each such case is unpleasant. You do not want to have delays.”
“Patologbristen is one of the key bottlenecks in cancer care. But there are also other. One of them is the shortage of biomedical analysts.”
“We are extremely dependent on them,” says Irina Alafuzoff.”
“She shows the laboratory where the staff prepares tissue samples. It can be a piece of tissue from a liver, bowel, breast or a whole prostate gland. The tissue is cut into wafer-thin slices, stained and placed between sheets of glass.”
“Will patologbristen consist?”
“– Yes, there is still a shortage of pathologists. The number may simply not reduce. We must continue to educate a pretty solid number, ” says Irina Alafuzoff.”
“It is regions and hospitals that are responsible for the specialised training.”
“– Then each county council expect to have the resources to hire new physicians to these ST courses. It is expensive, but the investment you have to make.”
“today, 127 medical ST-training to become pathologists. It takes five years. “
“in the meantime, patients rely on the older patologerna want to continue to work.”
“One of them, Christer Sundström at the university hospital, will be 76 years old soon. He works 90 percent and choose how much he wants to work.”
“– I work in one, or a few years. Currently I can not say when I stop. Right now it feels not urgent. The job is fun and I do benefit, ” says Christer Sundström.”
“So many pathologists working in Sweden”
“✓ a Total of 294 pathologists in working age working clinically.n✓ in Addition, 67 retirees from half – to full-time.n✓ Statistics 2017. n✓ In Sweden there is a pathologist on the 34 000 inhabitants.n✓ In Norway there is a pathologist on the 25 000 inhabitants.n nKällor: Irina Alafuzoff, chairman of the Swedish society of pathology and the European Union of Medical Specialist”
“✓ Pathology is the study of the pathological changes in the body.”
“✓ There are 30 laboratories for clinical pathology, as well as two private actors in Sweden today. All university hospitals and all major hospitals have their own laboratories.”