Individual factors influencing the location decisions of practicing physicians

최근 배출된 전문의의 개원지역 선택에 영향을 미치는 개인요인 분석

The purpose of this study is to assess individual decisive factors for distribution of medical specialists in Korea. A data set was constructed using several published data sources. including the Korean Medical Association's physician master file as a principal source for physician information. Linear logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between the location of private specialist clinic for practice with six variables related with individual characteristics: age. sex. location of postgraduate training hospital. location of medical school graduated, size of hospital for training, and specialty. Analysis showed that location of practice. classified into urban and rural areas, was significantly associated with the variables of sex. location of postgraduate training hospital. location of medical school. In addition, significant association was found between the location of practice which was categorized into "near-Seoul area" and others, and sex, location of postgraduate training hospital. and location of medical school. We could conclude that to improve area maldistribution of physicians locations of hospitals for training and medical schools have to have the highest priority in the policymaking.icymaking.