Publication:

Interns willingness to serve in rural area: a cross sectional survey in a government medical college, Mysore

Background India's health workforce has a diversity of health workers offering health services in several systems of medicine. There is uneven distribution and this scarcity is due to both the disinclination of qualified private physicians to work in underserved areas and the inability of the public sector to adequately staff rural health facilities. The objective of the study was to assess willingness of interns to comply with their commitment of serving in a rural area after internship completion and to identify the factors which influence their decision regarding compulsory rural service.

Methods A cross sectional survey was conducted among interns of a tertiary care hospital Mysore, India from September 2017-December 2017. Statistical methods like frequency, mean, proportions, Z test was used to analyze the data.

Results Amongst the 100 students who participated in the study, 42% were willing to comply with the bond of serving rural area for a period of 1 year against a penalty of 10 lakhs signed while enrolling to the course.

Conclusions Majority of the interns are still not willing to comply with the bond, therefore achieving mandatory posting as per government regulations still remains a challenge.