After dental unemployment and pharmacy, physiotherapy graduates complain

Physiotherapy is a supportive medical specialty that contributes primarily to the recovery and rehabilitation of patients with injury, accident, disability or burns, as well as patients with genetic disorders and the elderly.

A group of graduates from the Physiotherapy Department graduated from Saudi universities contacted me to raise the unemployment problem they faced after the accumulation of unemployed graduates due to the low number of graduates. 39 Jobs available in the governmental and nonprofit sector of health, despite the expansion of health services in the Kingdom and the importance of specialization and its connection to health and vision National goals and sustainable development goals, however, have a limited number of jobs, with 50 physiotherapists in the self-employed system and 15 in the civil service recruitment system.

I do not have any official figures showing the extent of the unemployment problem to specialize in physiotherapy, and according to unemployed graduates, their problem began since 2014 and that the number of unemployed exceeded 5000 people, and if this figure is true, it means that a degree is obtained in less than five years 1000 unemployed graduates.

Although the health authorities recognize the importance of this specialization and the lack of qualified human resources, which is explained by the time required to obtain appointments in physiotherapy and the presence of expatriates occupy this specialization in the field of private health, but current regulations do not solve the problem.

Graduates of this specialization have tried to communicate their voice, but the administrative procedures are long and no number of jobs have been announced, and supply and demand are often limited.

For the private sector, the Ministry of Labor's Tamheer Human Resources program, which aims to reduce unemployment, contributed to the non-employment of physiotherapy graduates due to the greed of private health sector employers who exploited new graduates with a reward of 3,000 paid in human resources and without having to register them in insurance. After their training, people who employ other people in the same system are denied the opportunity to practice which gives them the right to obtain a professional ranking from the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties as practitioners of the health.

Unemployment in health specialties has become a problem in the health system, from unemployment of dentists to physiotherapy and physiotherapy, which must be discussed in a transparent way to discuss the causes of the problem and develop solutions for not aggravate the problem.

• Legalize admission in specializations with many graduates to reduce their overcrowding without work, while increasing the number of jobs as needed.

• Benefit graduates of the physiotherapy specialty from relevant health authorities, including primary health care.

• Use the resources and equipment available in the physiotherapy departments of hospitals and therapeutic centers by operating them for longer hours, thus employing unemployed physiotherapy graduates.

• Involve the private sector in localization plans for health specialties, including physiotherapy.

• Enable the role of home health services, whether they be government, non-profit or private, and require them to be physiotherapists within the services of the medical team.

• Coordinate with GCC countries to recruit Saudi graduates in the Gulf States.