French medical doctors: specialty and practice location choices – MedSpe

We will consider the evolution of the medical workforce that we currently observe (especially feminization and change in the aspirations of the new generations of medical doctors). More precisely, we want to evaluate whether the current regulation of medical education is an efficient tool to ensure fairness for access to physicians of each specialty everywhere in France.

Forthcoming

Based on our results we will draw policy recommendation to tackle the major concern about geographical inequalities in health care access.

Amer-Mestre, J., & Charpin, A. (2021). Gender differences in early occupational choices: Evidence from medical specialty selection. Available at SSRN 3976273.

Data collection among 6th year medical students 2022,2023 : MEDSPE survey

For years, health policymakers have been concerned about the inadequate supply of physicians and their maldistribution across medical specialties and territories. In OECD countries, the analysis of physician workforce shows that public policy-makers face two recurrent problems: some specialties are poorly attractive for students in medicine and the geographic distribution of physicians is very uneven. The uneven distribution of physicians over the territory is a major challenge for the regulation of the medical workforce as it raises concerns about fairness (with geographical inequalities in access to health care) and the efficiency of the health system. We will consider the evolution of the medical workforce that we currently observe (especially feminization and change in the aspirations of the new generations of medical doctors)
In France, the main tool used to regulate the geographic distribution of doctors is the number of residency positions defined according to each region's medical needs. The aim of this project is to evaluate the role of this current regulation of medical education on the choice of a residency position and on the practice location choice (geographic distribution) of physicians. The project focusses on the decisions occurring at two periods: the one made during medical education, i.e., the choice of a residency position (specialty and region for medical training), and the one made after medical studies, i.e., the practice location choice.. More precisely, we want to evaluate whether the current regulation of medical education is an efficient tool to ensure fairness for access to physicians of each specialty everywhere in France. Based on our results we will draw policy recommendation to tackle the major concern about geographical inequalities in health care access.