Physicians’ retention rate and its effective factors in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Abstract

Background: Migration of physicians from less developed countries to affluent ones has become as one of the major concerns of human resource policy-makers. This leads to problems such as inequity in the distribution of physicians, lack of physicians in less developed areas, as well as an excess of the health workforce in developed environs. Thus, policy-makers aim to increase retention of physicians in their places of origin. Aims: This study aimed to find those effective factors for the retention of physicians in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Methods: 30 569 records of public sector physicians in 2016 were gathered from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education database, and the retention rate of each province was calculated. Geographic information system (GIS) was used to show retention in each province, and linear and logistic regression analysis were used to determine the effective factors for physicians' retention in the country. Results: There was a significant relationship between per capita gross domestic product of each province and its retention rate of physicians (OR = 1.56), retention rate of family physicians (OR = 7.38), and retention rate of specialists (OR = 1.59). In addition, relationships were significant for the human development index (all physicians [OR = 1.22], family physicians [OR = 2.36], and specialists [OR = 1.23]). Married physicians, higher paid physicians, and those who worked in headquarters and clinics showed greater willingness to stay in their area of origin. Conclusions: Physicians' retention rate is dependent on both macro and microlevel factors.

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

“…The province can be divided into three parts according to financial status, namely northern Jiangsu (per capita GDP = 75,551 RMB), which includes Xuzhou, Lianyungang, Yancheng, Huaian, and Suqian; central Jiangsu (per capita GDP = 123,551 RMB), which includes Yangzhou, Nantong, and Taizhou; and southern Jiangsu (per capita GDP = 167,995 RMB), which includes Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, and Nanjing [ 13 ]. Because the retention rate of doctors is related to economic level [ 14 ], two cities were selected randomly in northern, central, and southern Jiangsu by drawing lots. Lianyungang and Yancheng were chosen from northern Jiangsu, Yangzhou and Nantong were selected from central Jiangsu, and Nanjing and Changzhou were selected from southern Jiangsu.…”

Determining factors in the retention of physicians in rural and underdeveloped areas: a systematic review

“…Selecting medical students who have a rural background(8) ➢ Community-based medical Education(8) ➢ Providing a partial or complete tuition fee waiver in return for rural service (8) ➢ Career Development(27) ➢ Professional or career incentives(27) ➢ Chance to learn new procedures(43) ➢ Rural or underserved postgraduate training(29) ➢ Retainer schemes(29) ➢ Continuing medical education workshops(29) ➢ Initiative Zone Educational Incentive scheme(29) ➢ Financial investment(29) ➢ Graduate in family medicine(31) ➢ Early rural exposure for trainees(45) ➢ Training local students(45) ➢ Educational opportunities(45) ➢ Increasing the number of rural students in local schools (45) ➢ Increasing admissions for rural students(45) ➢ Training and education(36) ➢ Training and purchase of patient-record and information systems (39) ➢ Providing forms of licensure to provide services(39) ➢ Provide forms of licensure to permit rural physicians to cross provincial borders to provide locum services (39) ➢ Career Development Programs(40) ➢ Absence of proper system or policy(40) ➢ Expanding education services(40) ➢ Provision of post-graduation and in-service training (40) ➢ Establishment of medical colleges in rural areas(40) ➢ Continuing medical education (41) ➢ National medical graduate (42) ➢ Accessing higher education(42) ➢ Emphasize on the social aspect of recruitment(42) Working conditions factors ➢ Low workload(18) ➢ Regular work hours(18) ➢ level of collegial support(18) ➢ Supervisor level of support(18) ➢ Improvements in information technology(18) ➢ Job flexibility(25,34,19) ➢ Supporting systems(19) ➢ Staff function as team(19) ➢ Suppo...…”

Inequity in the distribution of rural family physicians in Iran: a cross sectional study

“…For example, motivate payments for those physicians working in rural regions might be an effective way. In addition, increase payments of RFPs working in rural regions to improve retention rate of physicians might be another effective way (Ehsani-Chimeh et al , 2018; Delavari et al , 2016). However, not all of these strategies could be effective due to the weather conditions, lack of public security, etc.…”