[Research in public health services and its recognition in the professional careers in the regions of Spain].

Objective: Health research is an accessory activity for most health professionals in the national health service of Spain. One way to recognize your worth is through professional careers. The objective of this paper has been to compare how research activity is valued in the professional careers of the health services of the different regions of Spain.

Design: Review of agreements, resolutions and decrees that define the professional careers of each community collected from the corporate websites of health services and health ministries. SITE: Health Research and Innovation Commission of the Extremadura Health Service.

Participants: Members of said commission.

Methods: The following was considered for comparison: if the research activity is valued in isolation from other concepts, if it is considered to advance in different levels, if it is a requirement for any of them, and the percentage of score assigned to the block to which it belongs.

Results: Almost all the regions consider research as merit at all career levels. The score of the research block is between 4 and 50% of overall. They are only considered independently, of others activities, in the Canary Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla-León, Cataluña, Madrid and Murcia. They are required to climb a certain level in the Canary Islands and Castilla-León.

Conclusions: There is a high variability in the recognition of research activity between regions. The careers that best value research would be those of the Canary Islands and Castilla-León, which consider it an independent activity and it becomes a requirement. The regions that have a more negative approach are those that can be promoted to the highest level, without making any contribution to research.