“Location is surprisingly a lot more important than you think”: a critical thematic analysis of push and pull factor messaging used on Caribbean offshore medical school websites

BMC Medical Education

Research Article

Valorie A. Crooks¹  Jeffrey Morgan¹  Carla Jackie Sampson²  Jeremy Snyder³ 

[1] Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada;Department of Public Affairs, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA;Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada;

关键词: Medical school;    Caribbean;    Canada;    Offshore medical school;    Physician training;    International medical education;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12909-017-0936-x

 received in 2016-09-19, accepted in 2017-05-21,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundOffshore medical schools are for-profit, private enterprises located in the Caribbean that provide undergraduate medical education to students who must leave the region for postgraduate training and also typically to practice. This growing industry attracts many medical students from the US and Canada who wish to return home to practice medicine. After graduation, international medical graduates can encounter challenges obtaining residency placements and can face other barriers related to practice.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative thematic analysis to discern the dominant messages found on offshore medical school websites. Dominant messages included frequent references to push and pull factors intended to encourage potential applicants to consider attending an offshore medical school. We reviewed 38 English-language Caribbean offshore medical school websites in order to extract and record content pertaining to push and pull factors.ResultsWe found two push and four pull factors present across most offshore medical school websites. Push factors include the: shortages of physicians in the US and Canada that require new medical trainees; and low acceptance rates at medical schools in intended students’ home countries. Pull factors include the: financial benefits of attending an offshore medical school; geographic location and environment of training in the Caribbean; training quality and effectiveness; and the potential to practice medicine in one’s home country.ConclusionsThis analysis contributes to our understanding of some of the factors behind students’ decisions to attend an offshore medical school. Importantly, push and pull factors do not address the barriers faced by offshore medical school graduates in finding postgraduate residency placements and ultimately practicing elsewhere. It is clear from push and pull factors that these medical schools heavily focus messaging and marketing towards students from the US and Canada, which raises questions about who benefits from this offshoring practice.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017