Factors affecting specialty and location of practice of government-sponsored physicians in Taiwan.

Geographic and specialty maldistribution have created problems of physician supply in Taiwan. Previous small-scale government-sponsored physician (GSP) programs in Taiwan have had only limited effects. To solve this problem, the National Yang-Ming Medical College was established in 1975; it supplied its first government-sponsored physician graduates in 1982. Obligatory service in different specialties and geographic areas were assigned to graduates according to their personal preference and school performance. In this study, we evaluated the factors affecting the choice of specialty and location for these GSPs during the 6-year obligatory service period. Data on Department of Health-regulated GSPs who finished obligatory service prior to 1991 were obtained from the GSP files, medical student files, and the National Medical Manpower Information System for the years 1982 to 1985. Logistic regression was used to assess the effect of year of entry, age, gender, rank in class, and hometown of the GSPs on specialty choice upon entry into the obligatory service period. Both logistic regression and generalized estimating equations were used to analyze the effects of these parameters and location experiences during obligatory service on location selection after the obligatory service period. We found that rural experience during obligatory service was strongly associated with the choice of rural practice after the completion of the obligatory service. Male gender, a later year of entry to the program, and having a rural hometown were only moderately associated with the choice of rural practice. A more comprehensive evaluation and review of the effect of the GSP program on overall specialty and location distribution of physicians is needed to provide guidelines for improvement of current GSP program policies.

The floating population: an informal process of urbanisation in China.

"This paper attempts to employ substantial source materials to shed light on the characteristics of population migration in a centrally planned society that is in the process of transforming to a market economy. In order to compare rural-urban migration in China with that in other developing countries, the data on 1985-1990 interprovincial population migration have been analysed. Some demographic research techniques on population migration, such as the impact on the place of origin and the place of destination, have been employed to assess the influence of rural-urban migration on China's long-term economic development. Economic betterment appears to be the sole motivation of rural population migration in China."

La enfermería en el Plan Nacional de Salud de Honduras / Nursing in the National Health Plan of Honduras

After summarizing the health situation in Honduras and describing the National Health Plan launched in 1973, the authors explain the changes that have come about in nursing, the difficulties that had to be surmounted to reach a new professional position, and the administrative decisions that had to be taken to devise a health policy. An account is given of the changes made in the training of nursing staff and in the functions that staff must perform in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the coverage extensive program. The article high-lights the role of the Nursing Division in the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare and the levels of coordination established with the other technical divisions and institutions responsible for the health personnel training. In closing, the article points out that the nursing sector represents the keystone of the model for the delivery of services to attain the goal of health for all by the year 2000 (Au)