Medical Students’ Working Preferences - A Pilot Study in Romania

Abstract

Health workforce migration affects healthcare services from all around the world. This present study hypothesized that: Romanian medical students’ preference of a workplace is based not only on factors such as economical, working conditions and professional development, but also on other factors that are more related to personal values. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 215 medical students from Cluj-Napoca. Students were invited to take part in a career preference questionnaire about: socio-demographic factors, work environment, job characteristics, influence of family and friends and the students’ intention to emigrate. Results show that students would choose a job based on: quality of working conditions, intellectual challenges, job security, the location of job in an urban area, income and a good atmosphere at the workplace. The factors impacting the migration are: quality of working conditions, desire of support from nurses and acceptance of a job even if is far from where the students’ family lives. The results could influence legislation on health and workforce mobility and improve the workforce recruitment, retention and motivation aspects on long-term.

Keywords

• job preferences
• medical students
• working conditions
• health and workforce
• mobility