Abstract
Background | Recent decades have witnessed the emergence of the new profession of an addiction specialist. Having analysed the Czech study programme in "Addictology", we identified a need for feedback on how successful the graduates are in finding a job and in integrating into the existing services.
Such a study has not been conducted yet in the Czech Republic. Aims | The aim was to ascertain the rate and characteristics of the employability of addictology graduates on the labour market as seen by their potential employers.
Methods | The population consisted of employers from among addictological services. They were selected in such a way as to represent all regions of the Czech Republic and all types of organisations.
A total of 18 organisations were finally included in the sample. Semi-structured interviews were conducted.
The data was transcribed into electronic form, coded, categorised, and described. All ethical principles were observed.
Findings | We identified more than 40 addictology graduates in the organisations. Only one organisation did not employ anyone with the qualification of an addictologist.
Half of the graduates worked in the position of an "addictologist", which is closely linked to working in healthcare services and to index interventions covered by health insurers. In social services, the status of "other professionals" is used for addictology graduates.
The average monthly salary received in the organisations by graduates without much work experience was CZK 21,400. The employers appreciated the addictologists' expertise in healthcare and their narrow specialisation.
Demand for the profession exists. While employers are interested in engaging addictologists, they wish to have knowledgeable and reliable staff in general.
Conclusions | The survey generated key information about the process of integrating the profession of an addictologist into the labour market in the Czech Republic. The findings show the employers' positive experience with engaging addictology graduates and a relatively high rate of their employability.