RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF PSYCHIATRISTS IN NON-METROPOLITAN PUBLICPOSITIONS IN QUEENSLAND - RESEARCH ON QUEENSLAND HEALTHS RESPONSE

Objective: To evaluate Queensland Health's recruitment campaign of 15 full-time psychiatrists to non-metropolitan areas between July 1992 an d December 1993.Method: A detailed 170-item Likert-type questionnaire was designed and mailed to all 15 psychiatrists. Thirteen questionnair es were completed and followed-up by a face to face interview. Results : Findings indicate that most of those recruited were experienced seni or specialists who came to the positions as result of personal contact and were attracted to non-metropolitan positions because of 'lifestyl e' and 'professional challenge' variables. 'Lifestyle' and 'profession al' variables were identified as major contributors to their retention . They reported that 'bureaucracy' and 'social and family' reasons wou ld be the most likely cause of them considering leaving their current positions. Conclusions: While the recruitment campaign was evaluated a s successful, some aspects were clearly more influential than others. It was noted that factors which were likely to influence psychiatrists to leave non-metropolitan public sector positions were more 'public' than 'non-metropolitan' in nature.