Contribution of a bonded scholarship scheme to staffing rural health facilities.

Background: Local and international research has identified rural origin as an important reason why healthcare professionals (HCPs) work in rural areas, and in South Africa (SA) considerable effort has gone into recruiting and training rural-origin students. However, there is little information in the SA literature on where graduates supported by these initiatives work, and whether they contribute to the rural workforce long term.

Objective: To determine the number of years that rural-origin Umthombo Youth Development Foundation (UYDF)-supported graduates of different disciplines worked at rural public healthcare facilities (PHCFs).

Methods: A retrospective descriptive study reviewed work record data of 405 UYDF graduates, to calculate the number of years they worked at a rural PHCF. Data were analysed descriptively and presented in tables with totals and percentages.

Results: Ninety percent (363/405) of UYDF-supported graduates returned to work at a rural PHCF. High percentages of social workers (85%), optometrists (80%), speech therapists, nurses (72%) and dental therapists (70%) worked for ≥5 years at a rural PHCF, while only 13% of audiologists, 14% of doctors, 29% of pharmacists, and 28% of dentists and occupational therapists worked at a rural PHCF for ≥5 years. Ten percent (42/405) of graduates did not work at a rural PHCF at all. A total of 110/124 (89%) of doctors supported by UYDF had worked at a rural PHCF, with 32% (40/124) working at a rural PHCF for ≥3 years. Overall, 54% of UYDF-supported graduates (219/405) worked for ≥3 years at a rural PHCF, and 38.5% (157/405) worked for ≥5 years at rural PHCFs. The majority of UYDF graduates had contributed towards long-term staffing of rural PHCFs. Lack of professional development opportunities at rural PHCFs as well as the reduced number of funded posts at rural PHCFs reduced the effectiveness of the UYDF initiative.

Conclusion: The UYDF Scholarship Scheme has shown that investment in rural students through a bonded scholarship can contribute to staffing rural PHCFs, as >90% of graduates worked at rural PHCFs, and for some disciplines >70% of graduates worked for ≥5 years at a rural PHCF. Allied HCPs worked on average for longer periods at rural PHCFs than doctors.