What interventions do rural doctors think will increase recruitment in rural areas: a survey of 2778 health workers in B
- PDF / 170,191 Bytes
- 6 Pages / 595.28 x 793.7 pts Page_size
- 66 Downloads / 166 Views
RESEARCH
Open Access
What interventions do rural doctors think will increase recruitment in rural areas: a survey of 2778 health workers in Beijing Jinwen Wang1, Jianglian Su1, Huijuan Zuo1, Mingyan Jia2 and Zhechun Zeng1*
Abstract Background: A shortage of health professionals in rural areas is a major problem facing China, as more than 60% of the population lives in such areas. Strategies have been developed by the government to improve the recruitment of rural doctors. However, the inequitable distribution of doctors working in China has not improved significantly. The objective of this study was to explore the reasons for the poor recruitment and to propose possible strategies to improve the situation. Methods: Between September 2009 and November 2009 data were collected from 2778 rural doctors in Beijing, China. A quantitative survey was used to explore health workers’ perceptions as to what factors would have the greatest impact on recruitment and whether access to training had been effective in increasing their confidence, enhancing their interest in practicing medicine and increasing their commitment to recruitment. Results: Rural doctors were generally older than average in China. Of the 2778 participants, only 7.23% had obtained a license as a qualified doctor. For 53% of the rural doctors, the job was part-time work. The survey showed that rural doctors considered the training strategy to be inadequate. In general, the initiatives identified by rural doctors as being of most value in the recruitment of doctors were those targeting retirement pension and income. Conclusions: From the perspective of rural doctors, specific initiatives that promised a secure retirement pension and an increased income were considered most likely to assist in the recruitment of rural doctors in Beijing. Keywords: Rural doctor, Recruitment, Human resources
Background Health systems across the world face a shortage of skilled health workers in rural and remote areas, which hampers progress towards global health-care goals and contributes to inequalities in health outcomes [1-5]. In Beijing, the capital city of China, urban/rural disparities remain strong. Beijing suffers from a shortage of health workers, with only two doctors per 1000 inhabitants in 2006 in rural areas where more than 16.95 million people reside [6]. As a large agricultural country, China has a population of 1.34 billion with 674 million rural residents [7]. China * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Beijing Institute of Heart, Lung and Blood Vessel Diseases, Capital Medical University Beijing Anzhen Hospital, No.2 Road Anzhen, Beijing, Chaoyang District, PR China Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
established the Household Registration System in 1949, which divided the populace into rural residents and urban residents. The State Council released regulations on the official definitions of cities and towns. It stipulated that at least half the population of a rural township had to be in ‘agricultural’ work [8]. Beijing
Data Loading...
