Polish Journal of Public Health

Original Article, Pol J Public Health, Vol. 132 (2022): 52-59

Izabela Rydlewska-Liszkowska1, Agnieszka Zdęba-Mozoła³,
Agnieszka Strzelecka², Anna Rybarczyk-Szwajkowska³

¹ Department of Medical Insurance and Health Care Financing, Medical University of Lodz, Poland
² Department of Econometric and Statistics, Faculty of Management, Czestochowa University of Technology, Czestochowa, Poland
³ Department of Management and Logistics in Health Care, Medical University of Lodz, Poland

10.2478/pjph-2022-0011

© 2022  Medical University of Lublin. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonComercial-No Derivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/)

Abstract

Strengthening of the professionalism of public health (PH) specialists may be the response to changes in health care sys­tems. The aim of the study was to explore the potential and restrictions associated with job search by PH graduates, as well as to examine their opinions on their position on the labor market. The survey was conducted using questionnaire (CAWI) on 107 respondents from two medical universities in 2019. The average age of the respondents was 24.5. 5.61% and 17.76% of graduates from both universities respectively declared that the university prepared students well. Most respondents indicate internships, apprenticeships organized by employers (78%) and accepting graduates without professional experience (64%) as employers’ activities which facilitate entering the labor market. Graduates considered the most important obstacles in finding work to be: low interest in PH graduates work, insufficient contacts and relationships and insufficient professional experience. Their competencies do not coincide with the expectations of employers. Employers and universities do not establish sufficient cooperation. Although the dependency between the place of study and the graduates’ perception of the role of university and employers facilitating entry into the labor market and re-selection of the study is not strong, it should not be ignored in shaping education programs.

Keywords: public health, graduates, employment, workforce.