A local training institution said there is a need to address the theory-practice gap in the healthcare profession to make Filipino healthcare workers more competitive.
Healthcare and Technology Institute Inc. (HCT), said this inability to relate the knowledge acquired in academics and research work with real-world medical practice can be traced from the shortage of educators in the nursing field, outdated university simulation laboratories, and limited hands-on experience due to constrained institutional budgets.
HCT Academy, formerly known as Healthcare Advantage Institute, is at forefront of bridging such gap by introducing an upskilling program that would help meet the rising domestic and global demand for Filipino healthcare professionals.
The HCT Academy simulation labs (SimLab) works within the framework of the Joint Commission Interna tional, the international gold standard for patient care. The program gives nursing students access to high-quality SimLabs with the latest hospital equipment, gaining access to quality training sought here and abroad.
Some of its facilities include an operating room, delivery room, intensive care unit, neonatal intensive care unit, wards, and private rooms. Training is provided by qualified instructors who upskill the Philippine Nurses Association and the Association of Nursing Service Administrators of the Philippines Inc.
HCT Academy added programs like American Heart Association lab for Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support.
As of 2022, the Department of Health said the country is in need of 106,000 nursing staff.
About 25,000 Filipino nurses have been deployed abroad in the last three years and still, several countries are specifically looking for Filipino healthcare workers.
