Experiences of working as early career allied health professionals and doctors in rural and remote environments: a qualitative systematic review
Abstract Background Maintaining a health professional workforce in rural and remote areas poses a significant challenge internationally. A range of recruitment and retention strategies have had varying success and these are generally developed from the collective experience of all health profession...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-07-01
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| Series: | BMC Health Services Research |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08261-2 |
| _version_ | 1818014964577730560 |
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| author | Alison Dymmott Stacey George Narelle Campbell Chris Brebner |
| author_facet | Alison Dymmott Stacey George Narelle Campbell Chris Brebner |
| author_sort | Alison Dymmott |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Maintaining a health professional workforce in rural and remote areas poses a significant challenge internationally. A range of recruitment and retention strategies have had varying success and these are generally developed from the collective experience of all health professions, rather than targeted to professional groups with differing educational and support contexts. This review explores, compares and synthesises the evidence examining the experience of early career rural and remote allied health professionals and doctors to better understand both the profession specific, and common factors that influence their experience. Methods Qualitative studies that include early career allied health professionals’ or doctors’ experiences of working in rural or remote areas and the personal and professional factors that impact on this experience were considered. A systematic search was completed across five databases and three grey literature repositories to identify published and unpublished studies. Studies published since 2000 in English were considered. Studies were screened for inclusion and critically appraised by two independent reviewers. Data was extracted and assigned a level of credibility. Data synthesis adhered to the JBI meta-aggregative approach. Results Of the 1408 identified articles, 30 papers were eligible for inclusion, with one rated as low in quality and all others moderate or high quality. A total of 23 categories, 334 findings and illustrations were aggregated into three synthesised findings for both professional groups including: making a difference through professional and organisational factors, working in rural areas can offer unique and rewarding opportunities for early career allied health professionals and doctors, and personal and community influences make a difference. A rich dataset was obtained and findings illustrate similarities including the need to consider personal factors, and differences, including discipline specific supervision for allied health professionals and local supervision for doctors. Conclusions Strategies to enhance the experience of both allied health professionals and doctors in rural and remote areas include enabling career paths through structured training programs, hands on learning opportunities, quality supervision and community immersion. Systematic review registration number PROSPERO CRD42021223187. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T06:51:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e1102d3c13584c7cb5db7f8cea32ff01 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6963 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T06:51:51Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Health Services Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-e1102d3c13584c7cb5db7f8cea32ff012022-12-22T02:07:01ZengBMCBMC Health Services Research1472-69632022-07-0122112010.1186/s12913-022-08261-2Experiences of working as early career allied health professionals and doctors in rural and remote environments: a qualitative systematic reviewAlison Dymmott0Stacey George1Narelle Campbell2Chris Brebner3Flinders University Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders UniversityFlinders University Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders UniversityFlinders University Northern Territory, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders UniversityFlinders University Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders UniversityAbstract Background Maintaining a health professional workforce in rural and remote areas poses a significant challenge internationally. A range of recruitment and retention strategies have had varying success and these are generally developed from the collective experience of all health professions, rather than targeted to professional groups with differing educational and support contexts. This review explores, compares and synthesises the evidence examining the experience of early career rural and remote allied health professionals and doctors to better understand both the profession specific, and common factors that influence their experience. Methods Qualitative studies that include early career allied health professionals’ or doctors’ experiences of working in rural or remote areas and the personal and professional factors that impact on this experience were considered. A systematic search was completed across five databases and three grey literature repositories to identify published and unpublished studies. Studies published since 2000 in English were considered. Studies were screened for inclusion and critically appraised by two independent reviewers. Data was extracted and assigned a level of credibility. Data synthesis adhered to the JBI meta-aggregative approach. Results Of the 1408 identified articles, 30 papers were eligible for inclusion, with one rated as low in quality and all others moderate or high quality. A total of 23 categories, 334 findings and illustrations were aggregated into three synthesised findings for both professional groups including: making a difference through professional and organisational factors, working in rural areas can offer unique and rewarding opportunities for early career allied health professionals and doctors, and personal and community influences make a difference. A rich dataset was obtained and findings illustrate similarities including the need to consider personal factors, and differences, including discipline specific supervision for allied health professionals and local supervision for doctors. Conclusions Strategies to enhance the experience of both allied health professionals and doctors in rural and remote areas include enabling career paths through structured training programs, hands on learning opportunities, quality supervision and community immersion. Systematic review registration number PROSPERO CRD42021223187.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08261-2Allied healthEarly careerExperiencesMedicineRural and remoteSystematic review |
| spellingShingle | Alison Dymmott Stacey George Narelle Campbell Chris Brebner Experiences of working as early career allied health professionals and doctors in rural and remote environments: a qualitative systematic review BMC Health Services Research Allied health Early career Experiences Medicine Rural and remote Systematic review |
| title | Experiences of working as early career allied health professionals and doctors in rural and remote environments: a qualitative systematic review |
| title_full | Experiences of working as early career allied health professionals and doctors in rural and remote environments: a qualitative systematic review |
| title_fullStr | Experiences of working as early career allied health professionals and doctors in rural and remote environments: a qualitative systematic review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experiences of working as early career allied health professionals and doctors in rural and remote environments: a qualitative systematic review |
| title_short | Experiences of working as early career allied health professionals and doctors in rural and remote environments: a qualitative systematic review |
| title_sort | experiences of working as early career allied health professionals and doctors in rural and remote environments a qualitative systematic review |
| topic | Allied health Early career Experiences Medicine Rural and remote Systematic review |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08261-2 |
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