Preferences of Medical Sciences Students for Work Contracts in Deprived Areas of Iran: A Discrete Choice Experiment Analysis

BACKGROUND: An unequal distribution of human resources affects access to health-care services. This study aimed to elicit the preferences of medical, dentistry, and pharmacy students about attributes of work contracts in deprived areas of Iran; this is a primary important step to decrease inequity. METHODS: Two-hundred and one students were entered into the study through proportional sample size estimation from Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in the west of Iran in 2018. The attributes of work contracts were determined using the discrete choice experiment (DCE) method, then possible dual scenarios of work contracts were designed through the D-efficiency method of SAS software and the data were collected using a questionnaire designed by the researchers. The conditional logistic model was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Salary, workplace, side facilities, scholarship, and workload were considered as important factors for working in the deprived areas (p<0.001). There were differences between the students’ preferences regarding their residential areas, majors, and state or tuition-paying education (p<0.001). Higher payments, side facilities, and availability of quota after working in the deprived areas were considered as creators of higher utility, and working in deprived areas and high workload were considered as creators of lower utility (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: This study provides new evidence about the preferences of medical sciences students for work contracts in deprived areas of Iran. According to the findings, money is not the only factor that affects the decisions of medical sciences students related to working contracts in deprived areas of Iran. Designing work contracts that are matched with preferences of the workforce can lead to an improvement in equity, access, and utilization of health-care services.