On the provision of personnel for healthcare system in Khabarovsk Krai
Authors:   Postgraduate Institute for Public Health Workers of the Ministry of Health of the Khabarovsk Krai, Khabarovsk, Russia, Korablev V.N. 
Published: December 2024

Relevance of the problem. The shortage of medical personnel is a pressing issue in the world, Russia and Khabarovsk Krai, negatively affecting the availability and quality of medical care for the population.
The objective of this study was to analyze the current situation with the provision of personnel for healthcare in Khabarovsk Krai and to develop proposals for the selection, recruitment, training and retention of medical personnel in the healthcare of the region.
Materials and methods. The research uses the methods of comparative analysis and content analysis. The source of information was statistical materials published by the Medical Information and Analytical Center of the Ministry of Health of the Khabarovsk Krai "Healthcare Institutions of the Khabarovsk Territory Staffing" for 2010–2023.

Results and discussion. A comparative analysis has shown that the outflow of doctors and mid-level medical workers from state healthcare institutions subordinate to the Ministry of Health of the Khabarovsk Krai is long-term and has been increasing in recent years; the staffing of state healthcare institutions with medical specialists, even taking into account part-time work, does not cover healthcare needs. The age composition of doctors and mid-level medical workers is characterized by a sharp decrease in their number over 45 years of age compared to the previous age, a "gap" in the age category of 46–60 years and the retention in the industry of about 25 % of workers over 60 years of age from their total number, "committed" to state healthcare. It should be noted that a centripetal nature of the redistribution of specialists towards urban districts has developed in the region. This is confirmed by the data on the population decline in rural municipalities for the period from 2004 to January 1, 2024. The problem of recruitment, training and employment of graduates of medical educational institutions remains in the healthcare of the region. Among the targeted students of the medical university who have completed their studies, approximately 30 % have unilaterally refused their employment obligations in recent years. Among the graduates of the medical college, only 25 % are employed annually. This calls into question the organization of work on recruitment, training and retention of target personnel and, possibly, the practice of targeted recruitment in educational institutions in general. The decrease in the number of school graduates, the limited number of schoolchildren studying in medical schools do not allow for a competition to form a contingent of applicants aimed at entering medical educational institutions of the region.
Conclusions. The conducted analysis has allowed the author to form his own point of view on the solution of the problem in the form of the need to develop interdepartmental measures for the selection, recruitment, training and retention of medical personnel in the healthcare of the Khabarovsk Territory. At the same time, the author believes that without a comprehensive socio-economic development of the Khabarovsk Krai and the Far Eastern Federal District as a whole, aimed at improving the quality of life of the region's residents, the problem of reproduction of personnel in healthcare cannot be solved.