In a statement given to Lusa, Rui Lázaro, the president of the Union of Pre-hospital Emergency Technicians (STEPH), expressed concerns over numerous allegations of irregularities, particularly discrepancies in evaluative methods between different delegations.
“For example, in Lisbon, the practical exams require two evaluations above 15 points to pass, whereas in Porto, only one is needed. A colleague in Lisbon scored 14.75 on the first attempt, 17 on the second, and 14 on the third and failed, but if they were in Porto, they would have passed,” he illustrated.
The complaints received by both the union and ANTEM, some of which were accessed by Lusa, also highlight that some trainees were denied access to the course regulations, a scenario the union deems “sufficient grounds to challenge the validity of the course.”
The legal department of STEPH is currently reviewing the complaints and “will take any necessary actions to protect the interests of their members,” stated the union president.
STEPH is also questioning the pedagogical methods employed, noting that “students are sometimes kept in a room for three hours before undertaking a practical evaluation. This contradicts pedagogical guidelines.”
The received complaints also target discrepancies in how evaluations are recorded and the inconsistency among instructors regarding the application of the evaluation criteria, which, according to STEPH, have led to “excessive failure rates.”
Currently, midway through the course, “there have been over 50 failures, and now we’re not even talking about the 200 technicians [INEM claimed to have hired earlier this year],” the union commented.
Lusa has sought clarification from INEM regarding these complaints and is awaiting a response.
Last November, the government announced that training for INEM technicians would henceforth be conducted in cooperation with medical schools starting this year, and, according to Carlos Robalo Cordeiro, the president of the Medical Schools Council, this is being implemented in the practical modules.
“The initial phase runs from April to July (…), following which the internship phase will be under INEM’s responsibility from August to September,” stated Carlos Robalo.
The responsible party further explained that the current training module includes involvement from the University of Beira Interior (UBI), the University of Coimbra, and the University of Algarve, with the subsequent module involving the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon, Coimbra, and UBI, and the next module involving UBI, Universidade Nova, and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Porto.
He also mentioned that due to the urgency to progress with the INEM course, the decision was made to distribute the training responsibilities across several medical schools “to avoid overburdening any single institution.”
Each school is engaged in two practical training modules, with one school always responsible for managing each module.
STEPH reports indications that practical training is not yet being carried out in medical schools and announced plans to question both the president of INEM and the Health Minister, reaffirming their stance that “INEM lacks the pedagogical competence to provide training at such a demanding level.”
“What they have are health professionals with pedagogical training from the Institute of Employment, which is insufficient. There is no Scientific Council, no Pedagogical Council… these are found in schools,” added Lázaro.
In his remarks to Lusa, the STEPH president acknowledges that “faculties are ready to commence training,” but he believes “forces within INEM oppose the transfer of training to medical faculties.”
“There are interests linked to the profits from training within INEM for certain individuals,” asserted Rui Lázaro, who has already requested clarification from the Health Minister and the INEM president.
Additionally, a source from ANTEM told Lusa that the association has requested information from INEM about the course regulations and the composition of the scientific council, but has not received any response so far.
