Academy of Public Health Services, Kanzlerstraße 4, 40472 Duesseldorf, Germany.
Department of International Health, Care and Public Health Research Institute-CAPHRI, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, 6211 Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Sep 17;19(18):11733. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191811733.
The Public Health Service (PHS) in Germany has had difficulties in recruiting enough qualified staff for years, but there is limited research on what factors drive decisions to (not) join the PHS workforce. We explored reasons for this perceived (lack of) attractiveness. We conducted two cross-sectional surveys among medical students (MS), public health students and students from other PHS-relevant fields (PH&ONM) in Germany before (2019/2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021). Both waves surveyed self-reported reasons for why students did (not) consider working in the PHS as attractive and how this could be improved, using open-question items. Qualitative and quantitative content analyses were conducted according to Mayring. In total, 948 MS and 445 PH&ONM provided valid written responses. Reasons for considering the PHS as attractive were, among others, the perception of a good work-life balance, high impact, population health focus, and generally interesting occupations. Suggestions to increase attractiveness included reducing bureaucracy, modernization/digitalization, and more acknowledgement of non-medical professionals. Among MS, reasons against were too little clinical/patient-related activities, low salary, and occupations regarded as boring. Our findings indicate areas for improvement for image, working conditions in, and institutional structures of the PHS in Germany to increase its attractiveness as an employer among young professionals.
德国公共卫生服务（PHS）多年来一直难以招募到足够数量的合格员工，但对于哪些因素驱动人们决定（不）加入 PHS 劳动力队伍的研究却很有限。我们探讨了这种被认为的（缺乏）吸引力的原因。在 COVID-19 大流行之前（2019/2020 年）和期间（2021 年），我们在德国对医学生（MS）、公共卫生学生和来自其他与 PHS 相关领域的学生（PH&ONM）进行了两次横断面调查。这两个阶段都使用开放性问题项调查了学生认为（不）认为在 PHS 工作有吸引力的原因，以及如何改善这种情况。根据 Mayring 的方法进行了定性和定量内容分析。共有 948 名医学生和 445 名 PH&ONM 提供了有效的书面答复。被认为有吸引力的原因包括良好的工作与生活平衡、高影响力、关注人群健康以及通常有趣的职业等。提高吸引力的建议包括减少官僚主义、现代化/数字化以及更多地认可非医疗专业人员。对于医学生来说，反对的原因包括临床/患者相关活动太少、薪水低以及认为职业枯燥乏味。我们的研究结果表明，德国 PHS 需要在形象、工作条件和机构结构方面进行改进，以提高其对年轻专业人士的吸引力。
