Health Systems in Transition - Hungary - World Health Organization ...

Health systems in transition Hungary 121
nurses, midwives, emergency ambulance officers, dieticians, physiotherapists,
sanitary inspectors and optometrists. Further training of qualified health
workers is offered by health faculties of universities and in the two training
institutions of the State Secretariat for Healthcare, which is part of the Ministry
of National Resources. One of these training institutions, the Institute for Basic
and Continuing Education of Health Workers, operates the registration system
for non-medical health professionals (1998/12).
Before 1989, Hungary had no training courses in public health or
health services management. Later, the Ministry of Health 2 supported the
establishment of the School of Public Health at the University of Debrecen and
the Health Services Management Training Centre at Semmelweis University.
Both schools offer Master of Science training curricula for medical graduates
and other professionals. The Health Services Management Training Centre
offers continuing education programmes for hospital managers. As a regional
partner of the World Bank Institute, the Centre also offers an international
course on Health Sector Reform and Sustainable Financing, designed to provide
an intensive training opportunity for senior decision-makers in the region.
4.2.4 Doctors’ career paths
The careers of physicians in Hungary follow three main paths: professional,
academic or managerial. Generally, these paths are separate, but for some
practising physicians they are not. For instance, in a county hospital, a head
of department who both treats patients and directs the work of subordinate
physicians can be involved in the teaching of medical students and medical
residents (and be granted an honorary academic title for doing so) (2005/7).
The professional, the managerial and, to a certain extent, the academic career
paths have a general regulatory framework based on Act XXXIII of 1992 on the
Legal Status of Public Employees. This framework applies equally to all public
employees, including physicians and other health workers, and there is a related
governmental decree for implementing the provisions of the Act in health care
institutions (1992/5, 2008/12). The Act defines the public employee career path
in relation to a guaranteed minimum salary (Articles 60–80). The pay scale
has 10 categories, numbered from A to J, and in each category there are 14
grades. Public employees are classified in the lettered categories according to
qualifications, educational and academic attainment (highest level of education,
specializations, doctoral and other academic degrees, as well as membership
in the Hungarian Academy of Science) (1992/5). Category A requires either an
2 As of 2010 called the State Secretariat for Healthcare within the Ministry of National Resources.