Motivation and Adaptation to Professional Activity of Young Doctors of the District Service

Significance. The issues of preserving and strengthening the human resources potential of medical organizations providing primary health care are a priority for public authorities of the Russian Federation. To attract and retain young medical personnel in primary health care, it is important to study the motivational factors of labor activity of young doctors. Purpose. To investigate the factors that form the motivation of young district doctors to work in the system of primary health care, including those related to the process of adaptation to professional activity. Materials and methods. The sample size was 443 physicians under 30 years of age working in state medical organizations in 12 subjects of the Russian Federation as district general practitioners, district pediatricians, or general practitioners. The material was collected using a specially designed questionnaire. Research methods: sociological, statistical, analytical. Results. According to the results of the study it was found that the majority of young district physicians interviewed are satisfied with their income, at the same time 54.3% of doctors who took part in the study work with additional workload, which may lead to health deterioration and development of professional burnout. Only 43,3% of respondents plan to continue working as a district doctor for the next five years. Among the factors that form negative motivation to work as a district doctor, the respondents indicate the following: high workload at appointments; overload with functions directly unrelated to the provision of medical care; psycho-emotional stress and others. When analyzing the difficulties encountered by young doctors without work experience in carrying out professional activities as a district doctor immediately after primary accreditation, it was found that the problems of adaptation to work are mainly related to the lack of practical training for independent work conditions and insufficient development of communication skills in working with patients. Conclusion. A thorough elaboration of the system of motivation and adaptation of district doctors based on the data on the factors of motivation of labor activity of employees and existing problems of adaptation is necessary to ensure the retention of young medical personnel in the system of primary health care provision. Scope of application of the results. The results can be used by researchers in the field of public health and healthcare.