Abstract
Background: Shortages of primary care physicians, specialized and emergency care lead to the development of medical deserts, i.e. regions where the population has insufficient access to health care. Access to high-quality care, essential medicines and assistive technologies should be available to all patients, regardless of where they live.
Approach: The main aim of the study was to identify factors influencing the career decisions of medical students. These factors have a significant impact on the future subsequent allocation of medical workers in Poland.
For the purposes of the study, a conceptual research model was developed, which included analysis and inference procedures. The model consists of five modules grouped into three research stages: preparation, diagnosis and verification. The study is carried out among students of the 1st, 3rd and 6th year of medicine at the Medical University of Warsaw. The preparation stage includes the analysis of professional literature and existing data. The diagnosis stage will consist in carrying out planned quantitative and qualitative research. During the verification stage, the results obtained from quantitative and qualitative research will be confronted with the opinions of experts.
Results: The study identified factors influencing the choice of a career path, determined the strength of the influence of individual factors on the choice of a career path, assessed differences in factors identified in students of particular years, analyzed issues of medical deserts in Poland.
Implications: As a result of the study, it will be possible to optimize the medical education system. As a result, it will be possible to manage human resources more effectively in the health care sector and improve the quality and availability of health care in Poland, including reducing medical deserts.