Intention of medical student to work in rural setting and associated factors among the public Universities undergraduate medical students of Ethiopia
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Date
2018-10
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Addis Ababa Universty
Abstract
Background: Health workforce demand and supply increased last two decade. In Ethiopia,
about 84% of the country‟s total populations live in rural areas. However, shortages and
imbalances in physician workforce distribution between urban and rural areas among different
regions are enormous. A little was known about medical students‟ intention to work in the rural
area after completing medical school. This study was done to assess the intention of
undergraduate medical students towards rural work settings and to identify factors associated
with intention to work in the rural areas.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was employed in January to April 2018 among 342 (254 male
Vs 88 female) medical students (year IV to Year V) in three public medical schools in Ethiopia.
Stratified random sampling technique was used. The pretested self-administered questionnaires
were used. Data was entered into EPI-data version 3.1 and exported to Statistical Package for
Social Science (SPSS) version 24 for analysis. A bivariate and multivariate analysis of logistic
regression was used to identify associated factors with 95% of confidence interval.
Results: This study found that; 24.9% of participants are intended to work in the rural areas. The
odds of intention to work in the rural area were higher among the male and Addis Ababa
University medical students‟ as compared with the females, Wolayita Sodo, and Wachemo
Universities medical students. As independent predictors: gender (AOR = 2.125[1.012, 4.462]),
study medical colleges (AOR [C.I] = 2.926[1.299, 6.589]), career advancement (AOR [C.I] =
2.911[1.377, 6.154]), availability of medical equipment (AOR [C.I] = 3.524[1.140, 10.892]), and
type of hospital (AOR [C.I] = 6.572[2.716, 15.904]) were significantly associated factors.
Conclusion: Majority of Ethiopian medical students‟ intention were less likely to work in the
rural setting and primary hospitals. Gender, medical school, availability of essential medical
equipment, and expansion of career advancement were associated factors with intention of
medical students to work in the rural setting after graduation. Enrolling altruistic and rural
background students into medical schools and influencing the attitude of medical students to
work in rural location are expected to create graduates who are more likely to work in rural
settings. Improving essential medical equipment is also more likely to create encouraged
graduates.
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Keywords
medical students, intention, rural setting, urban setting, motivation, health facility, career advancement, medical equipment, push and pull factors