Shahar G1, Feder-Bubis P2
1Ministry of Health, Physical Therapy, Ramat-Gan, Israel, 2Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Health Systems Management, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Background: Health occupations have undergone professionalization. This process includes a structural aspect (a professional training program and admission requirements), and an attitudinal aspect (profession´s principles and approach from ethical, value-related, and social standpoints). The Medical Professions Regulation Act 2008 (hereinafter: the Law) is the legal basis for the professionalization of Physical Therapy (PT) in Israel. The Law aims to ensure adequate professional level of those engaged in PT and to protect public health. The Law stipulates the specificity of the profession`s titles and activities, the functions of a consultative committee, professional trust and ethics obligations, disciplinary directives, and the regulation of certified professionals´ supervision
Purpose:
a. To map the PT professional aspects that were included in the regulation as stipulated by the Law;
b. to describe major trends in PT human resources since the sanctioning of the Law.
Methods: A mixed-methods research including a qualitative, content-analysis component for the examination of constitutional and legal aspects of the Law by reviewing documents such as regulations and amendments; a quantitative component for the analysis of PT human resources trends. The latter is based on the Ministry of Health database that includes personal and professional background of all licensed physical therapists (PTs) in Israel.
Results: The Law stipulated that the Ministry of Health is responsible for its enforcement, and that all PTs must have a professional license, including those who held PT degrees before the sanctioning of the Law. This license is granted to PTs trained in recognized academic institutions, and succeed to pass a national examination, regardless of the country of training. The structure and rules pertaining to the examination are also stipulated by the Law. The Law has not stipulated revalidation of granted licenses; it stated that areas of specialization in PT may be established. Regulations, additions, amendments, and temporary provisions were added to the Law.
The analysis of the PT human resources shows that there has been a marked increase in the number of certified PTs since the sanctioning of the Law, from 1008 in 2009 to 6453 in 2018. Similarly to the reported in other countries, the majority of PTs are women and the proportion of men in PT increased from 23% in 2009 to 32% today. PT can be described as a ´young´ profession since 66% of the certified PTs are under the age of 44. The proportion of registered PTs who studied outside the country increased from 16.4% to 20.6%.
Conclusion(s): Amendments, additions and temporary provisions complemented the Law in order to implement its stipulations and fulfill its aims, thus promoting PT professional structural aspects. The activation of the Law is processual and its implementation is evident in the public health sector, enabling the public to ensure the legal competence of PTs. In view of the current human resources trends in PT, we expect a sufficient number of professionals in the next decade.
Implications: The Law promoted PT structural professional aspects. However, professional attitudinal aspects need to be further researched in view of the comprehensive aims of the regulation.
Keywords: Professional regulation, Physical therapy Human Resources, Policy
Funding acknowledgements: This research project is funded by a grant of the Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research (NIHP)
Purpose:
a. To map the PT professional aspects that were included in the regulation as stipulated by the Law;
b. to describe major trends in PT human resources since the sanctioning of the Law.
Methods: A mixed-methods research including a qualitative, content-analysis component for the examination of constitutional and legal aspects of the Law by reviewing documents such as regulations and amendments; a quantitative component for the analysis of PT human resources trends. The latter is based on the Ministry of Health database that includes personal and professional background of all licensed physical therapists (PTs) in Israel.
Results: The Law stipulated that the Ministry of Health is responsible for its enforcement, and that all PTs must have a professional license, including those who held PT degrees before the sanctioning of the Law. This license is granted to PTs trained in recognized academic institutions, and succeed to pass a national examination, regardless of the country of training. The structure and rules pertaining to the examination are also stipulated by the Law. The Law has not stipulated revalidation of granted licenses; it stated that areas of specialization in PT may be established. Regulations, additions, amendments, and temporary provisions were added to the Law.
The analysis of the PT human resources shows that there has been a marked increase in the number of certified PTs since the sanctioning of the Law, from 1008 in 2009 to 6453 in 2018. Similarly to the reported in other countries, the majority of PTs are women and the proportion of men in PT increased from 23% in 2009 to 32% today. PT can be described as a ´young´ profession since 66% of the certified PTs are under the age of 44. The proportion of registered PTs who studied outside the country increased from 16.4% to 20.6%.
Conclusion(s): Amendments, additions and temporary provisions complemented the Law in order to implement its stipulations and fulfill its aims, thus promoting PT professional structural aspects. The activation of the Law is processual and its implementation is evident in the public health sector, enabling the public to ensure the legal competence of PTs. In view of the current human resources trends in PT, we expect a sufficient number of professionals in the next decade.
Implications: The Law promoted PT structural professional aspects. However, professional attitudinal aspects need to be further researched in view of the comprehensive aims of the regulation.
Keywords: Professional regulation, Physical therapy Human Resources, Policy
Funding acknowledgements: This research project is funded by a grant of the Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research (NIHP)
Topic: Professional issues
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Ethics committee: Human Subjects Research (HSR) committee
Ethics number: 1618-1
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
