Health Professional Education
Health professionals play a crucial role in enhancing population access to and quality of health care. They administer primary health care to people, families, and communities, promoting health, preventing diseases, and providing health care services.
Direct care practitioners such as physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, respiratory therapists, dentists, pharmacists, speech-language pathologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, physical and behavior therapists, and speech-language pathologists, as well as allied health professionals, make up the healthcare workforce. They work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, healthcare centers, and other service delivery places, as well as academic instruction, research, and administration.
Some patients receive care and therapy in the privacy of their own homes. A considerable number of community health workers labor outside of established healthcare institutions in many nations. Managers of healthcare services, health information technologists, and other assistive professionals and support workers are also important members of healthcare teams.
Health occupations are a common classification for healthcare providers. Practitioners are frequently classified according to skill level and skill specialization within each sector of competence. Health professionals are highly trained employees who work in fields that often demand substantial knowledge, including university-level studies leading to a first degree or higher qualification. Physicians, physician assistants, registered nurses, veterinarians, veterinary technicians, veterinary assistants, dentists, midwives, radiographers, pharmacists, physiotherapists, optometrists, operating room practitioners, and others are all included in this group.
Bachelors
Post Graduate Diploma
Masters
Doctorate
Health Professional education was started in Nepal formerly after the establishment of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) under Tribhuvan University in 1972 beginning with the training of middle-level human resources for health. Bachelor-level courses in the Institute of Medicine were started in 1978 and postgraduate studies since 1982.
Similarly, BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences was established in eastern Nepal in 1993, Manipal Academy of Health Sciences was established under Kathmandu University as a Kathmandu University-affiliated private institution in 199. Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences as a constituent campus started the MBBS program in 2001. The National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS) was established in 2002 and the Patan Academy of Health Sciences in 2008.
Since the late 90s, over a period of a decade, numerous private medical institutions were also opened in affiliation to various universities. On one hand, the rapid development of medical institutions helped for fulfilling the gap between the need of human resources for health. On the other hand, there have been issues related to quality in health professional education and also the process and costs related to the entrance examination and student enrollment.
In this context, National Medical Education Act 2075 has envisioned the common entrance examination to be conducted by Medical Education Commission for enrollment of students in various programs and colleges throughout the country. As per the board meeting of Medical Education Commission held on 2076.06.01(18 September 2019). Medical Education Commission bears the responsibility to conduct Postgraduate Entrance Examination in the current academic year and Bachelor level entrance exams from the subsequent year. For conducting the Postgraduate common entrance examination, the commission has felt the need to prepare a common syllabus in consultation with experts from various institutions with experience in the postgraduate entrance examination.
