Assessment of barriers to physician careers in global health

Purpose: Despite concern about worldwide health care disparities and an ever-growing number of international opportunities offered by training programs, physicians experience barriers in translating these experiences into global health career opportunities. The objective of this study is to examine these barriers to guide further research into global health careers.

Methods: Sequential PubMed concept searches were conducted. The first concept searched was global health careers and related MeSH terms. This was combined with a second search for physicians and career choice. Abstracts were reviewed for relevance and included studies addressing global health experiences, focusing on motivations and barriers. Keyword searches were conducted for relevant grey literature. Entry-level positions and internships from representative global health organizations were examined, noting qualifications, experience required, salary, and location.

Major results: The current literature on this subject focuses on global health training experiences; few examine barriers to career entry. Our search identified potential barriers, including financial concerns, scheduling conflicts, security and family concerns, and a lack of opportunities. Certain specialties also provided greater access to global health careers. Specific aspects of the framework were correlated to commonly described entry points into global health careers.

Recommendations: Despite growing interest among young physicians to contribute to global health, a gap exists in the literature examining the translation of short-term trainee experiences into professional long-term global health careers. This calls for further research and policy development to mitigate these barriers to support global health career development for interested members of the physician community.