Introduction:

The distribution of doctors in Argentina is uneven, generating a health impact. The Medical Residency system enables the choice of specialty and where to carry it out, predicting future distribution. Objective: To identify factors related to the choice of medical residencies in Argentina, considering health needs for the year 2020.

Method:

Descriptive, cross-sectional, and analytical work. The source of information was the Ministry of Health. The type of university was categorized into public, private, and foreign. According to health needs, prioritized specialties gynecology, adult and pediatric ICU, emergency medicine, and neonatology, and non-prioritized specialties, by exclusion of the former. Geographical locations were classified as big or small cities, according to the National Geographic Institute. For the analysis, Student’s t-test and chi-square were obtained, with p<0.05 considered significant. Statistical Package for Social Science for Windows v28 software was used.

Results:

The majority of graduates came from public universities (54.7%), followed by foreign (29.8%) and finally private universities. Non-prioritized specialties were chosen by 47.9% of public, 58.4% of private, and 70.5% of foreign university graduates. Public university graduates mainly chose basic specialties (40.1% vs 27.2% for private and 21.6% for foreign universities). Aspirants from small cities (13.9%) chose non-prioritized specialties (53.8%). Basic residencies in small cities had lower occupancy (42.3% vs. 82.3%), but not non-prioritized specialties (85.5% vs. 94.5%).

Discussion:

The choice of specialties is mostly non-prioritized. The system absorbed professionals from small to large cities and non-prioritized specialties.

Conclusions:

The type of university and the type of city where residencies operate condition the choice of specialty, not the health prioritization.