Assessment conducted by Praxis Think Tank reveals that in order to harmonize the quality of Estonian post graduate medical education, the proportion of supervised work needs to be increased, a comprehensive feedback system must be created, and teamwork and communication skills should be offered in training for junior doctors.
Post graduate medical training (PME) in the Baltic countries has experienced a great deal of criticism but, to date, there have been no studies that have analysed PME in the Baltic countries by applying scientific methods. For this purpose, the assessment was conducted to evaluate to what extent PME in the Baltic states meets international standards. The study could be regarded as the first-ever systematic mapping of PME in the Baltic countries.
The study was conducted as part of the international project „Becoming a Doctor in Baltic Sea Region – empowering junior doctors in the Baltics“ that took place from 2016 to 2018. The main results show that practices differ across countries, institutions and departments. Only in a few cases does PME in the Baltic countires fully meet the international standard. The major concerns pertain to improper application of regulations regarding PME, inconsistency in the quality of supervision, lack of assessment of competencies, no systematic approach towards teaching soft skills or skills of scientific reasoning and methodology, little and not constant or timely appraisal, and absence of a comprehensive feedback system.