Professional expectations of medical university graduates in solving the issues of health care system staffing

Abstract

Introduction. At present, in most regions of the Russian Federation there is a shortage of medical personnel in the public health system. The issue is particularly acute in medical organizations providing primary health care, as well as in municipal districts remote from the regional center. The purpose of the paper is to examine the professional expectations and intentions of medical university students. Materials and methods. The method of questioning was applied in the study. Questionnaires were taken by 296 students of the fifth year of the specialties «Medicine» and «Pediatrics», studying on the budget and commercial forms of education.Results. Only 22% of respondents considered primary care as a place of work. Large cities are chosen for work by 90% of respondents, and 42% of them would like to leave their home region and find a job in economically more attractive regions. Only 6% of respondents are ready to go to the countryside, and 4% of respondents are interested in ambulance service. Approximately evenly distributed were opinions on work in public and private health care system, respectively, 54% and 56% of respondents. At the stage of graduation, 16.6% of the students were disappointed in their chosen profession, another 22.3% found it difficult to answer, and 5.7% do not plan to stay in healthcare after graduation. Discussion. The main reasons for this situation are salaries that do not meet the needs of graduates, especially at the start of their professional career, the social unsettlement of young doctors, mainly in small towns and rural areas, and insufficient practical training. Conclusion. The solution to the problem lies in the sphere of socio-economic provision of living conditions and stimulation of quality training of specialists, taking into account professional orientation.