The Rural Clinical School of WA, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Discipline of Paediatrics, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
J Paediatr Child Health. 2024 Oct;60(10):549-554. doi: 10.1111/jpc.16625. Epub 2024 Aug 7.
This pilot study examines how rural and remote junior doctors' career decisions are influenced by collegial relationships within the discipline of general paediatrics.
Social network analysis (SNA) was undertaken by structured interviews with 10 paediatricians working in regional towns in Western Australia. UNICET software was used to determine the interactions between individual networks to look for overlap and common influencers.
Ten rural paediatricians were interviewed. An individual was found to have key measures of centrality at the core of the entire social network of rural general paediatricians. This included a high degree of 'betweenness' (connections within social networks), and a high broker index (connections between separate areas of a network or between networks) demonstrated by that person combining three disconnected networks into a single coherent network. This central individual was a recently appointed consultant with links to senior paediatricians, peers and junior trainees, and may be instrumental in recruitment and retention in the rural paediatric workforce.
Improving understanding of the impact of social networks, and decision-making processes that influence rural career choices, can inform innovative solutions to develop sustainable strategies for recruiting and retaining the rural paediatric workforce. Applying this model on a larger scale may provide more data to support evidence-based programmes that enable this within the Australian context.
本初步研究旨在探讨农村和偏远地区初级医生的职业决策如何受到普通儿科领域同仁关系的影响。
通过对西澳大利亚州地区城镇工作的 10 名儿科医生进行结构化访谈，进行社会网络分析（SNA）。使用 UNICET 软件确定个体网络之间的相互作用，以寻找重叠和共同影响因素。
对 10 名农村儿科医生进行了访谈。发现一个人在农村普通儿科医生整个社会网络的核心具有关键的中心度衡量标准。这包括高度的“中介度”（社交网络中的连接）和高经纪人指数（网络中不同区域之间或网络之间的连接），这个人将三个不相连的网络组合成一个单一的连贯网络。这个核心人物是最近任命的顾问，与资深儿科医生、同行和初级学员有联系，可能在农村儿科劳动力的招聘和留用方面发挥作用。
更好地了解社会网络的影响以及影响农村职业选择的决策过程，可以为制定可持续的招聘和留住农村儿科劳动力的战略提供创新解决方案提供信息。在更大的范围内应用这种模式可能会提供更多数据，以支持在澳大利亚背景下实现这一目标的循证方案。
