The working place change of health workers in the preventive medicine feld in Vietnam

Abstract

This paper aims to describe the working place change of health workers in the preventive medicine feld during the period of 2005 – 2009 in Vietnam. The cross-sectional study was conducted in September 2009 and incorporated both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The research outcomes showed that 2,310 preventive medicine health workers migrated during the period of 2005 – 2009, with over 1/4 moring through resignation and increasing rapidly over the years. The rest transferred to public health facilities at higher levels. The primary trend in the facilities/ organizations to which preventive medicine health workers chose to migrate were those at higher levels, in central urban areas and in the treatment feld. The health workers with a high level of qualifcations largely migrated to the felds of treatment and state management, and a signifcant proportion migrated to social insurance. Important factors that drove the migration of health workers in the preventive medicine feld were the lack of job security due to constant changes in the organizational structure of district health facilities and the new social insurance policy during this period of time, along with the expectation of having higher incomes, better career opportunities as well as improved living and learning standards for the health workers themselves and their families.