Biomedical subjects

Liudvika Lovkyte

Publications and source records attributed to Liudvika Lovkyte.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

[The survey of Lithuanian physicians and medical residents regarding possible migration to the European Union].

The aim of this survey was to evaluate intentions of Lithuanian physicians and medical residents to work in the European Union (EU) and other countries. The survey was performed in 2002 in the framework of the project "Health human resource development and planning in Lithuania", sponsored by Open Society Fund, Lithuania. Using the questionnaire developed by the Ministry of Labor and Solidarity of France, 242 medical residents and 497 physicians were surveyed. Survey results indicated that 60.7% of medical residents and 26.0% of physicians intended to leave for the EU or other countries. The survey also showed that the first-choice countries were United Kingdom, Germany and the Nordic countries. Almost 15.0% of medical residents and 5.0% of physicians planed to leave for the EU on permanent basis. The largest part of those who intended to leave for the EU, planned to go there after accession. It was a definitive decision of 2.5% of medical residents and 3.8% of physicians. The major reasons for leaving were higher salary, better professional possibilities and better quality of life. For medical residents a previous visit abroad for professional reasons increased the risk of working abroad significantly (OR-3.29, 95% CI 1.73-6.27). In the case of physicians, age was the factor that significantly decreased the risk (OR-0.94, 95% CI 0.91-0.96); however having friends abroad increased the risk by more than three times (OR-3.22, 95% CI 1.91-5.42). In order to observe the possible migration to the EU or other countries, the survey should be repeated every three-four years.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Physicians resources in Lithuania: change comes slowly.

AIM: To analyze the structure of the physician workforce in Lithuania at the time when the country gained independence, changes it has undergone since 1990, and physician resource planning activities. METHODS: National and international databases were examined to determine the changes in the structure of physician workforce after 1990. Studies and reports, funded by international and national governmental organizations, were reviewed to examine the recommendations for physician resource planning and the rate of their acceptance. Since there was no government plan, a study using Delphi technique was conducted to find consensus among practitioners and policy makers on the physician-to-population ratio needed in Lithuania. Medical residents and physicians in Lithuania were surveyed to assess their emigration intentions. RESULTS: In comparison with other Baltic countries, the number of physicians in Lithuania has remained high despite dramatic reductions in the number of students enrolled to medical schools. There is still a maldistribution of physician resources geographically and by specialty. The government has accepted few recommendations based on the international studies. None of the internal databases provided all the needed information on the physician workforce and the existing databases could not be linked to gain access to all required information. CONCLUSIONS: The physician-to-population ratio remained high after Lithuania had gained independence. There has been little planning at the government level to determine the number of physicians needed in a reformed health system. Changes in the number of students admitted to medical schools did not follow from a well thought-out long-term plan for physician workforce the country will need in the future. To develop a frequently updated database of physicians is essential for the successful planning of future physician workforce.

Databases as Topic↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Physician workforce planning and the transition to primary health care in former socialist countries.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, countries in Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States inherited a physician workforce that was often too large, dominated by specialists, and poorly prepared for the transition to primary health care and the addition of the family/general practice specialty. We examine attempts in selected countries to plan the future physician workforce, while attempting to reduce the size of the workforce and train physicians to lead the transition to primary health care (PHC). We look the impact these efforts have had on the current workforce and will have on the future physician workforce. With few exceptions, the first move after independence was to reduce the inputs into the physician workforce in an attempt to reduce the size of the workforce, considered large by western standards, in 1990 between 350 and 400 per 100, 000 population compared to the EU average of 299. These reductions often did not result from planning and ignored the lengthy physician training process, leading to concerns for the future supply of physicians and the conclusion that many other factors were influencing the number of physicians. At the same time, two methods were being employed to rapidly prepare physicians for PHC, retraining of existing physicians for the short-term and the establishment of training programs in the faculties of medicine to train family/general practitioners (GPs) for the long-term. GPs per 100,000 population remained at about 102 throughout the period in the original EU countries, but in the new EU countries went from 51 in 1991 to 63 in 2002. The success of the programs was varied and often depended on the overall organization of the physician workforce, the status of the new family physician within the workforce and the commitment at the national level to the transition to PHC. After over a decade of independence, there is still a struggle to have a physician workforce with the right numbers, the right specialty mix, and practicing in the right locations.

Education, Medical, Graduate↗