Maximizing successful pursuit of health careers in Micronesia: what to do?

The people of the U.S.- Associated Pacific Islands (USAPI) suffer significant health disparities when compared with industrialized countries. One explanation for this is lack of an adequate supply of skilled healthcare workers. The current research examines the factors that current health professionals from the region describe as helping and hindering them in their pursuit of health careers, as well as the barriers seen by students, educators and health professionals.

Two separate interview studies were conducted with a convenience sample of individuals in the five USAPI jurisdictions in the Northern Pacific. The first study utilized the responses of 15 individuals regarding the barriers to the pursuit of health careers in order to develop a logic model map of the most common problems in the pursuit of health careers. The second study involved in-depth questions of 32 health professionals regarding barriers to and facilitation of health career training. Results were analyzed using constant comparative analysis.

Interview results indicate that facilitators of students pursing health careers included having a family member working in healthcare, the desire to help people, available training opportunities and personal experiences. Facilitators of completion of training included family support, financial support, personal commitment and social support during school. Barriers to pursuit and completion of training included:limited academic preparation, exposure and guidance; family obligations, and other careers seen as being more desirable.

Efforts to improve successful pursuit of health careers should start at the family level and must give a clear message to students that their goal is supported. Furthermore, there should be significant effort given to: improving the academic preparation provided for students, making career information available to students, and providing financial support, mentoring and guidance. Homesickness was a significant barrier that could be decreased by regional programs or a support system at locations with concentrated pockets of students from a given area.