Meiling Bao1,2, Cunrui Huang3,4. 1. School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhongshan Road #2, Guangzhou, 510080, China. 2. School of Public Health, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China. 3. School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhongshan Road #2, Guangzhou, 510080, China. huangcr@mail.sysu.edu.cn. 4. School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China. huangcr@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: China has a shortage of health workers in rural areas, but little research exists on policies that attract qualified medical and nursing students to rural locations. We conducted a discrete choice experiment to determine how specific incentives would be valued by final-year students in a medical university in Guizhou Province, China. METHODS: Attributes of potential jobs were developed through the literature review, semi-structured interviews, and a pilot survey. Forty choice sets were developed using a fractional factorial design. A mixed logit model was used to estimate the relative strength of the attributes. Willingness to pay and uptake rates for a defined job were also calculated based on the mixed logit estimates. RESULTS: The final sample comprised 787 medical and nursing students. The statistically significant results indicated "Bianzhi" (the number of personnel allocated to each employer by the government) and physical conflicts between doctors and patients were two of the most important non-monetary job characteristics that incentivized both medical and nursing students. Policy simulation suggested that respondents were most sensitive to a salary increase, and the effect of incentive packages was stronger for students with a rural family background. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies for patient-doctor relationships, Bianzhi and salary should be considered to attract final-year medical and nursing students to work in rural China. In addition, specific recruitment policy designs tailored for students with different majors and backgrounds should be taken into account.
BACKGROUND: China has a shortage of health workers in rural areas, but little research exists on policies that attract qualified medical and nursing students to rural locations. We conducted a discrete choice experiment to determine how specific incentives would be valued by final-year students in a medical university in Guizhou Province, China. METHODS: Attributes of potential jobs were developed through the literature review, semi-structured interviews, and a pilot survey. Forty choice sets were developed using a fractional factorial design. A mixed logit model was used to estimate the relative strength of the attributes. Willingness to pay and uptake rates for a defined job were also calculated based on the mixed logit estimates. RESULTS: The final sample comprised 787 medical and nursing students. The statistically significant results indicated "Bianzhi" (the number of personnel allocated to each employer by the government) and physical conflicts between doctors and patients were two of the most important non-monetary job characteristics that incentivized both medical and nursing students. Policy simulation suggested that respondents were most sensitive to a salary increase, and the effect of incentive packages was stronger for students with a rural family background. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies for patient-doctor relationships, Bianzhi and salary should be considered to attract final-year medical and nursing students to work in rural China. In addition, specific recruitment policy designs tailored for students with different majors and backgrounds should be taken into account.
Entities:
Keywords:
Discrete choice experiment; Health workers; Job preferences; Medical and nursing students; Recruitment policy
Authors: James Buchan; Ian D Couper; Viroj Tangcharoensathien; Khampasong Thepannya; Wanda Jaskiewicz; Galina Perfilieva; Carmen Dolea Journal: Bull World Health Organ Date: 2013-11-01 Impact factor: 9.408
Authors: Paul Jacob Robyn; Zubin Shroff; Omer Ramses Zang; Samuel Kingue; Sebastien Djienouassi; Christian Kouontchou; Gaston Sorgho Journal: Int J Health Policy Manag Date: 2015-02-11