Career guidance as a priority in solving the personnel problem in healthcare

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the availability of medical personnel in Russia’s healthcare sector has continued to deteriorate. Over the period from 2000 to 2018, it decreased by about 11 % for both doctors and specialists with secondary medical education. This is due to several reasons: the rejection of the previously existing system of training and saturation of the industry with specialists, the unsuccessful optimization of the country’s health system, the lack of attention of the authorities to young professionals, the creation of favorable conditions for them to live and work, etc. An important role is played by insufficient work on career guidance, including in medical specialties with students of General education organizations and the reluctance of medical workers to do this. The article provides recommendations for the organization of career guidance among high school students, describes the forms in which it can be carried out. This includes specialized medical classes, clubs for studying the basics of medical knowledge, and volunteering. The experience of the regional clinical hospital, which for 5 years has been supervising a specialized medical class, 78–96 % of whose graduates have chosen the medical profession is of considerable interest. Teachers of the Novosibirsk Medical College actively work with General education organizations, and therefore the competition among applicants is from 2 people per place in the specialty «Nurse» to 12–14 in the specialties «Pharmacy» and «Orthopedic dentistry». The effectiveness of career guidance largely depends on how systematically and methodically it is carried out. To successfully conduct it, you need to organize a three-level system: career guidance office (level I), career guidance point (level II), career guidance center (level III). The joint work of representatives of General education and medical organizations, medical schools, will help to ensure that school graduates will come to medicine, confident in the correctness of their chosen profession. After graduation, they will return to their native land, to their familiar environment, and with a high degree of probability will remain there forever.