Health Workforce Planning: Designing a Specialty and Subspecialty Supply Model for Iran Publisher

Summary: Developing a supply model for the healthcare workforce in Iran could optimize specialty training. It aims to ensure a balanced inflow and outflow of medical professionals. Can evidence-based modeling enhance workforce planning? #HealthWorkforce #EvidenceBased

Yazdani S¹ ; Koohpayehzadeh J² ; Bosak S³ ; Hasani SA⁴ ; Janbazloufar KM⁵ ; Ayati MH⁶
Source: Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran Published:2024

Abstract

Background: One of the approaches to health workforce planning is supply-based. It has been emphasized that countries should model health workforce based on evidence and their context. The objective of this study is to design a supply health workforce planning model for specialty and subspecialty in Iran. Methods: This is a study using Walker and Avant’s (2018) theory synthesis framework to construct the model. This method has three steps. According to the viewpoint of the research team and the needs of the country, the focal concept is determined. Then, a literature review was done to determine related factors and their relationships. In the third step, according to the review, the viewpoint of the research team, the rationale of the connection between components, and the graphic model were presented. Results: Supply was selected as the focal concept. In the literature review, 42 components were obtained from the systematic review, 43 components obtained from the study of other texts were combined with the opinion of the research team about the field of Iran, and the connections between them were determined. In the third step, the supply model was designed using the Stock and Flow method. Finally, by applying the functional full-time coefficient, the number of full-time equivalent physicians was calculated. Conclusion: The presented model is an evidence-based model that follows stock and flow design. Stock is the number of specialties or subspecialties that exist in the labor market. Flow includes inflow and outflow according to the educational pathway in the context of Iran. Copyright© Iran University of Medical Sciences