Taking the pulse: medical student workforce intentions and the impact of debt

To define what factors are important to medical students as they make decisions about where they will live, work and train after graduation, and to explore the effects of student debt

A mixed quantitative-qualitative questionnaire to all 5th and 6th year medical students residing in New Zealand in 2008. Questions related to students' perspectives of the workforce, debt, and workforce intentions.

372 medical students completed the survey (55% response rate from those in NZ at the time of the survey). Fifty-two percent of students planned to leave New Zealand at the start of PGY2 or 3. The average debt was $75,752. Thirty-six percent said their debt would influence their choice of vocation, 39% their choice of location of work in New Zealand and 64% their choice of locality of work in the world. Twenty-six percent and 25% believed that they would be valued by the hospital management and government respectively. Students most commonly cited financial incentives to work overseas and to locum.

Strategies to counter emigration trends in the New Zealand health workforce need an holistic approach. Debt levels need to be countered, and the perceived lack of value of graduates needs to be rectified.