6 research outputs found
Willingness to work in rural areas and the role of intrinsic versus extrinsic professional motivations - a survey of medical students in Ghana
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Retaining health workers in rural areas is challenging for a number of reasons, ranging from personal preferences to difficult work conditions and low remuneration. This paper assesses the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on willingness to accept postings to deprived areas among medical students in Ghana.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A computer-based survey involving 302 fourth year medical students was conducted from May-August 2009. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between students' willingness to accept rural postings and their professional motivations, rural exposure and family parental professional and educational status (PPES).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Over 85% of students were born in urban areas and 57% came from affluent backgrounds. Nearly two-thirds of students reported strong intrinsic motivation to study medicine. After controlling for demographic characteristics and rural exposure, motivational factors did not influence willingness to practice in rural areas. High family PPES was consistently associated with lower willingness to work in rural areas.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although most Ghanaian medical students are motivated to study medicine by the desire to help others, this does not translate into willingness to work in rural areas. Efforts should be made to build on intrinsic motivation during medical training and in designing rural postings, as well as favour lower PPES students for admission.</p
For money or service? a cross-sectional survey of preference for financial versus non-financial rural practice characteristics among ghanaian medical students
Abstract
Background
Health worker shortage and maldistribution are among the biggest threats to health systems in Africa. New medical graduates are prime targets for recruitment to deprived rural areas. However, little research has been done to determine the influence of workers' background and future plans on their preference for rural practice incentives and characteristics. The purpose of this study was to identify determinants of preference for rural job characteristics among fourth year medical students in Ghana.
Methods
We asked fourth-year Ghanaian medical students to rank the importance of rural practice attributes including salary, infrastructure, management style, and contract length in considering future jobs. We used bivariate and multivariate ordinal logistic regression to estimate the association between attribute valuation and students' socio-demographic background, educational experience, and future career plans.
Results
Of 310 eligible fourth year medical students, complete data was available for 302 students (97%). Students considering emigration ranked salary as more important than students not considering emigration, while students with rural living experience ranked salary as less important than those with no rural experience. Students willing to work in a rural area ranked infrastructure as more important than students who were unwilling, while female students ranked infrastructure as less important than male students. Students who were willing to work in a rural area ranked management style as a more important rural practice attribute than those who were unwilling to work in a rural area. Students studying in Kumasi ranked contract length as more important than those in Accra, while international students ranked contract length as less important than Ghanaian students.
Conclusions
Interventions to improve rural practice conditions are likely to be more persuasive than salary incentives to Ghanaian medical students who are willing to work in rural environments a priori. Policy experiments should test the impact of these interventions on actual uptake by students upon graduation.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112499/1/12913_2011_Article_1837.pd
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Quantification of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Binding Antibody Levels To Assess Infection and Vaccine-Induced Immunity Using WHO Standards
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) binding antibody (Ab) levels following vaccination or natural infection could be used as a surrogate for immune protection if results of serological assays were standardized to yield quantitative results using an international standard. Using a bead-based serological assay (Luminex xMAP), anti-receptor binding domain (anti-RBD) Ab levels were determined for 1,450 participants enrolled in the Los Angeles Pandemic Surveillance Cohort (LAPSC) study. For 123 participants, SARS-CoV-2 binding antibody unit (BAU) levels were also quantified using WHO standards and then compared to the semiquantitative results. Samples were chosen to represent the range of results and time from vaccination. Antibody levels and decay rates were then compared using unadjusted and adjusted linear regression models. The linear range of the assay used in this study was determined to be 300 to 5,000 mean fluorescence intensity units (MFI). Among the fully vaccinated groups (vaccinated only and vaccinated with past infection), 84.8% had anti-RBD MFI values above the linear range of >5,000 MFI, and 33.8% had values of >15,000 MFI. Among vaccinated participants with past infection (hybrid immunity), 97% had anti-RBD values of >5,000 MFI and 70% (120/171) had anti-RBD values of >15,000 MFI. In the subgroup quantified using the WHO control, BAU levels were significantly higher than the semiquantitative MFI results. In vaccinated participants, Ab decay levels were similar between infected and noninfected groups (P = 0.337). These results demonstrate that accurate quantitation is possible if standardized with an international standard. BAU can then be compared over time or between subjects and would be useful in clinical decision making. IMPORTANCE Accurate quantification of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies can be achieved using a universal standard with sample dilution within the linear range. With hybrid immunity being now common, it is critical to use protocols adapted to high Ab levels to standardize serological results. We validated this approach with the Los Angeles Pandemic Surveillance Cohort by comparing the antibody decay rates in vaccinated participants and vaccinated infected participants
Rural practice preferences among medical students in Ghana: a discrete choice experiment
OBJECTIVE: To determine how specific job attributes influenced fourth year medical students' stated preference for hypothetical rural job postings in Ghana. METHODS: Based on discussions with medical student focus groups and physicians in practice and in the Ministry of Health, we created a discrete choice experiment (DCE) that assessed how students' stated preference for certain rural postings was influenced by various job attributes: a higher salary, free superior housing, an educational allowance for children, improved equipment, supportive management, shorter contracts before study leave and a car. We conducted the DCE among all fourth year medical students in Ghana using a brief structured questionnaire and used mixed logit models to estimate the utility of each job attribute. FINDINGS: Complete data for DCE analysis were available for 302 of 310 (97%) students. All attribute parameter estimates differed significantly from zero and had the expected signs. In the main effects mixed logit model, improved equipment and supportive management were most strongly associated with job preference (β = 1.42; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.17 to 1.66, and β = 1.17; 95% CI: 0.96 to 1.39, respectively), although shorter contracts and salary bonuses were also associated. Discontinuing the provision of basic housing had a large negative influence (β = -1.59; 95% CI: -1.88 to -1.31). In models including gender interaction terms, women's preferences were more influenced by supportive management and men's preferences by superior housing. CONCLUSION: Better working conditions were strongly associated with the stated choice of hypothetical rural postings among fourth year Ghanaian medical students. Studies are needed to find out whether job attributes determine the actual uptake of rural jobs by graduating physicians