Researchers: Adam Rose¹, Yael Ashkenazi²

Background: Israel has been struggling with a physician shortage in the periphery, posing a major challenge to medical-service delivery there. One step taken to ease the shortage was provision of financial incentives to interns in the periphery. A study conducted on the impact of the incentives showed an increase in the number of interns in peripheral hospitals. The current study returns to that same population, to examine the long-term impact of incentives on the choice of job area, and to describe the career path of physicians in the transition between residency and specialty.

Objectives: 1. To describe the work patterns of physicians in the transition between residency and specialty.
2. To describe the factors related to the choice of job area and work frame after completing the residency.
3. Examine which factors influence the choice of job in the periphery and to what extent physicians who received grants to specialize in the periphery remained in these areas after completing the residency.

Method: A survey of 346 physicians.

Findings: Physicians in the periphery and in the center receive the same mix of job offers and special conditions in similar proportions and are characterized by similar work patterns after the residency. The considerations for workplace selection what were rated as most important by the physicians, were “challenge and opportunity for professional development” and “family/career integration”. The proportion of physicians who stay in the periphery after the residency is lower than the rate of those who stay in the center. Peripheral background, especially internship and residency in the periphery, have been found to be the strongest predictors of work in the periphery.

Conclusions: Conclusions Physicians originally from the periphery who were trained there, are more likely than others to work in the periphery.

Recommendations: To direct resources to building a pool of physicians from the peripheral population.

Research end date: 04/2021