MEDICAL GRADUATES?

RESULTS OF A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

A universal challenge faced by developing countries these days is the inequitable
distribution of health professionals, which compromises the capacity of the health system to
deliver efficient and effective health care. Availability of reliable data on medical graduates
is important for health planning and development of policies and plans dealing with health
workforce labour market. Objectives: To determine the proportion of medical graduates who
remained affiliated with the profession three to six years after graduation from a private medical
school, To find out the specialty selection and practice location of these graduates, and to
determine the association between their gender and affiliation with the profession. Methods:
A cross-sectional study was undertaken at the Lahore Medical & Dental College from March to
May 2014 selecting graduates through convenience sampling. The graduates were contacted
through e-mail, Facebook and telephone. After obtaining voluntary informed consent from
the respondents, a pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect information.The
data was recorded and analysed using the statistical package for social sciences version 16.0.
Chi-square test is used to test statistical significance between respondent’s gender and their
affiliation with the medical profession at p < 0.05. Results: A large proportion 98(88%) of
medical graduates remained affiliated with the profession. Those who didn’t pursue it were all
females (p < 0.05). Majority 86(88%) were located in Pakistan. A greater proportion worked in
the tertiary health care facilities 65(94%). The popular specialty being pursued was medicine
24(24%). Conclusion: Female medical graduates should be provided opportunities for part
time work.Medical schools should provide early and prolonged exposure of students to primary
health care facilities, in order to increase their uptake of rural postings.