There is a shortage of psychologists in the interior. Therefore, Sykehuset Innlandet and The University of Oslo (UiO) an agreement of intent that will ensure citizens good health services.
They will look at the possibility of carrying out regular parts of practice in the professional education for psychology students in the interior. The aim is to get more qualified psychologists in the county, and to strengthen the research collaboration between the institutions. The parties write this in a press release.
– Our social mission is to cover the need for psychologists for the whole of Health South-East. A collaboration on practice between Sykehuset Innlandet and UiO will ensure better and more predictable competence and access to good healthcare in the Innlandet region, says rector Svein Stølen at UiO.
A working group has been appointed to look at recommendations for how a decentralized psychology education can best be carried out.
– The education will be delivered by UiO and practice will be carried out in the interior. We want to create a separate admission for decentralized education to ensure good access to psychologists in the interior, and so that both the students and the region get the necessary predictability, says Stølen.
The board at Sykehuset Innlandet was also positive about the plans.
– The hospital currently spends a lot of money on hiring substitutes and using overtime to make up for the lack of psychologists, explains managing director Alice Beathe Andersgaard.
If new study places are added as a consequence of the collaboration, the aim is that the first students on a decentralized course of study will start in the autumn of 2026.
– Until these students go into practice, it is a goal to increase the number of students who complete their practice at Sykehuset Innlandet, the parties write.
