THE OPPORTUNITY FOR SPECIALIZATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AS MOTIVATION AMONG MEDICAL STAFF

Abstract

Opportunities for specialization, professional development and career progression are of particular importance, alongside funding, for all healthcare professionals. Often they also determine the choice of workplace.
Purpose: To investigate the perception of the opportunity for specialization and professional development, as well as the incentives for it, of the employees of the “Pirogov” University Hospital.
Methodology: A survey was conducted among 572 employees of “Pirogov” University Hospital.
Result: The most critical towards the opportunity for specialization and professional development at the “Pirogov” University Hospital are employees aged 25 to 44 years. They gave an "excellent" or "good" rating in 60.2% of cases for ages 25 to 34 and in 62.0% of cases for ages 35 to 44, respectively. The group with the highest percentage of "excellent" or "good" ratings is the oldest age group - 81.3%. Women and those with more experience rate the opportunities and incentives for professional development higher. In addition to being the only hospital for emergency medicine in Bulgaria, the "Pirogov" University Hospital has clinics unique to the country and others of national importance and functions. Therefore, it is extremely important how the staff of the hospital assesses the quality of medical activity in the hospital.
Conclusions: The assessment of the quality of medical activity of the staff of the “Pirogov” University Hospital correlates with the assessment of the opportunity for specialization and professional development, respectively the incentives for this. 91.6% of the respondents chose the same or two similar ratings in their answers to the questions about the quality of the medical service and the opportunity for specialization and professional development, and the incentives for this. Correspondingly, 25.9% rated the quality of medical care higher compared to the opportunity for specialization and professional development.
Recommendations: The quality of the activity is determined by the qualifications of the staff. In the survey we found a very high overall evaluation of the service by the medics. Workers set higher demands, have higher criteria and expectations even compared to patients. This should be taken into account by the hospital management and the principal.