Job satisfaction of graduates of rural oriented medical students training project in Jiangsu Province, China: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background The Chinese government has worked out the “Rural Oriented Medical Students Training Project” to address physician maldistribution, which attempted to train physicians for rural areas. The present study attempted to evaluate the job satisfaction of the graduates of this project in Jiangsu Province, China. Methods Online questionnaires were sent to the graduates of the “Rural Oriented Medical Students Training Project” (group A) and their colleagues, who were rural physicians recruited from different sources (group B). The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Xuzhou Medical University, and the approval number was 2,018,057. Information on demographic characteristics, work conditions, and self-reported satisfaction was collected to compare the satisfaction differences between the two recruited rural physicians using the Chi-square test and Mann–Whitney U test. Additionally, factors correlated to the satisfaction of group A were assessed using multivariate linear regression. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 23.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Group A exhibited moderate satisfaction (2.81 ± 0.687). The satisfaction score from the highest to the lowest was for occupational ecology, life satisfaction, stress, competency, and internal environment. Positive factors related to the satisfaction of group A were area, monthly income, working hours per week, professional title, and post. Conclusion The satisfaction of the graduates of the “Rural Oriented Medical Students Training Project” was moderate. Factors related to satisfaction included economic incentives, workload, and professional confidence. Possible solutions for increasing satisfaction should consist of economic support and possible ways to improve the professional identification of these graduates.

The substitution effect of financial and non-financial incentives at different income levels in physician recruitment: evidence from medical students in China

“…Consistent with similar works we found a positive relationship between financial incentives and medical students’ job choices [ 30 , 31 ]. However, with the upward trend in the monthly income, the results showed that jobs with same non-financial attributes consistently had higher utility, which demonstrated financial incentives were not as the most effective interventions underlying job preferences as previously believed.…”

Trends in the mobility of primary healthcare human resources in underdeveloped regions of western China from 2000 to 2021: Evidence from Nanning

“…Students under this policy are required to complete five years of medical education, followed by three years of standardized training, and then serve for three years at township health clinics. As identified in existing research, a significant number of these medical students report low job satisfaction [ 20 , 21 ] with a pronounced intention to resign [ 22 ]. The principal reasons cited for this discontent are the low levels of pay, long working hours, scarce opportunities for further training, and limited prospects for career advancement.…”

Policy perception, job satisfaction and intentions to remain in rural area: evidence from the National Compulsory Service Programme in China

“…The increased workload extended GPs’ working hours and might further reduce their income from other part-time jobs [ 52 , 53 ]. Therefore, in order to retain GPs in rural area, the provision of appropriate financial support such as stipends and subsidies should be taken into account [ 24 , 54 ]. In particular, the access to and a secure of retirement pension has been found to be an important incentive for health professionals to practice in rural settings [ 31 ].…”

“…While there have been a large body of investigations on turnover intention and job satisfaction among primary health workforce in rural China [20,[24][25][26], there is a research gap regarding GPs' perceptions towards NCSP and its potential impact on their turnover intention in rural area. Given the unique role of NCSP GPs, it is necessary to investigate their perceptions towards such policies as the restriction on taking postgraduate exam [16].…”