Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2017 Apr 20;10(1):159.
doi: 10.1186/s13104-017-2479-y.

Profile and professional expectations of medical students from 11 Latin American countries: the Red-LIRHUS project

Percy Mayta-Tristán  1   2   3 , Reneé Pereyra-Elías  4 , Juan José Montenegro-Idrogo  5 , Christian R Mejia  6 , Fiorella Inga-Berrospi  5 , Edward Mezones-Holguín  4 ; Red-LIRHUS (Grupo Colaborativo Latinoamericano para la Investigación en Recursos Humanos en Salud)
Collaborators, Affiliations
Observational Study

Profile and professional expectations of medical students from 11 Latin American countries: the Red-LIRHUS project

Percy Mayta-Tristán et al. BMC Res Notes. .

Abstract

Background: Latin America is undergoing a human resource crisis in health care in terms of labor shortage, misdistribution and poor orientation to primary care. Workforce data are needed to inform the planning of long-term strategies to address this problem. This study aimed to evaluate the academic and motivational profile, as well as the professional expectations, of Latin American medical students.

Results: We conducted an observational, cross-sectional, multi-country study evaluating medical students from 11 Spanish-speaking countries in 2011-2012. Motivations to study medicine, migration intentions, intent to enter postgraduate programs, and perceptions regarding primary care were evaluated via a self-administered questionnaire. Outcomes were measured with pilot-tested questions and previously validated scales. A total of 11,072 valid surveys from 63 medical schools were gathered and analyzed.

Conclusions: This study describes the profile and expectations of the future workforce being trained in Latin America. The obtained information will be useful for governments and universities in planning strategies to improve their current state of affairs regarding human resources for health care professions.

Keywords: Human resources; Latin America; Medical education; Motivation; Primary Health Care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Latin American multicountry study evaluating the profile and professional expectations of physicians in training.a Data collection was carried out in three medical schools, however, the shipping to Lima was not successful.b Sixty three Schools of Medicine from 61 Universities given that the Universidad Central de Venezuela (Venezuela) and the Universidad de San Martín de Porres (Peru) have a subsidiary School besides the main.c Total estimate of Medical Students from first and fifth year in participant schools.d Surveys declared as invalidly or inappropriately fulfilled after revision
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Timeline for the evaluation of the profile and professional expectations of medical students from 11 Latin American countries: the Red-LIRHUS project
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization . World health report 2006: working together for health. Geneva: WHO; 2006. - PubMed
    1. Mullan F. The metrics of the physician brain drain. N Engl J Med. 2005;353(17):1810–1818. doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa050004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dussault G, Franceschini MC. Not enough there, too many here: understanding geographical imbalances in the distribution of the health workforce. Hum Resour Health. 2006;4:12. doi: 10.1186/1478-4491-4-12. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization . Human resources for heath: foundation for Universal Health Coverage and the post-2015 development agenda. Geneva: WHO; 2014.
    1. World Health Organization . The world health report: Primary Health Care—Now more than ever. Geneva: WHO; 2008.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources