Addressing health workforce inequities in the Mindanao regions of the Philippines: Tracer study of graduates from a socially-accountable, community-engaged medical school and graduates from a conventional medical school

• Published in: Medical teacher 2017-08, Vol.39 (8), p.859-865
• Main Authors: Halili, Servando 'Ben', Cristobal, Fortunato, Woolley, Torres, Ross, Simone J., Reeve, Carole, Neusy, A-J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Career Choice; Community service; Cross-Sectional Studies; Curricula; Curriculum; Employee retention; Government; Graduate Surveys; Graduates; Health officers; Humans; Labor Force; Medical personnel; Medical schools; Philippines; Philippino; Private hospitals; Professional Education; Professional Practice Location; Professional Training; Rural Health Services - manpower; Schools, Medical; Social Responsibility; Specialists; Workforce
• ISSN: 0142-159X; 1466-187X
• DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2017.1331035

Developing and retaining a high-quality medical workforce in low-resource countries is a worldwide challenge. The Filipino Ateneo de Zamboanga University-School of Medicine (ADZU-SOM) has adopted a strong focus on socially accountable health professional education (SAHPE) in order to address the shortage of physicians across rural and urban communities in the Western Mindanao region. A cross-sectional survey of graduates from two Philippines medical schools: ADZU-SOM in the Mindanao region and a medical school with a more conventional curriculum, found ADZU-SOM graduates were more likely to have joined the medical profession due to a desire to help others (p = 0.002), came from lower socioeconomic strata (p = 0.001) and had significantly (p