Professional satisfaction of health professional undergraduates and influencing factors in Hebei province, China

BACKGROUND: Professional satisfaction of health professional students can impact on their medical professional achievement. Understanding the professional satisfaction of health professional students and identifying its relative factors is beneficial to strengthen the professionalism education of health professional students, and provide solid foundation for future medical achievements. METHODS: A self-made questionnaire was used to survey undergraduate students of six medical universities in Hebei province. The survey included three aspects: students’ basic situation, professional selection and cognition, and basic situation of colleges. The Kruskal–Wallis H test was used to compare the professional satisfaction of students with different characteristics. All covariates were used in the ordinal logistics regression analysis to identify the independent factors associated with professional satisfaction. RESULTS: A total of 1238 (97.7%) students responded to the questionnaire in the survey, and 66.0% were women. Students with public health majors had decreased satisfaction compared with those with clinical-related majors. Professional satisfaction decreased among women compared with men. The non-first-choice students had lower professional satisfaction compared with the first-choice students. Students who chose their volunteer with the help of others had lower professional satisfaction compared with students who independently chose their volunteer. Students who did not understand the employment status had lower professional satisfaction compared with students who understood the employment status. Students with fewer employment prospects had lower professional satisfaction compared with students with bright employment prospects. Students generally dissatisfied with the canteen had lower professional satisfaction compared with students satisfied with the canteen. Students who were very satisfied or satisfied with teaching levels were more likely to have professional satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: The professional satisfaction of health professional undergraduates in Hebei province is high. Employment-related aspects and university environment influence professional satisfaction including canteens, understanding of employment status, teachers’ teaching level, etc., which are the main factors affecting professional satisfaction, but the factors such as student employment prospects and majors cannot be changed in the current environment.