Distribution of Specialists in Public Hospitals of Iran

Equity in health means justice in the distribution of community health. The purpose of justice in health is to consider health needs of all people regardless of their geographical location or cultural, economic, and social status. The aim of this study was to assess distribution of specialists based on population (100,000 people) in public hospitals of Iranian provinces during 2010. In this descriptive study, distribution of each specialization in different provinces was shown as maximum, minimum, mean, standard deviation, and median. In order to display the relation between number of specialists and population, the correlation coefficient was employed. Data was analyzed using SPSS. The highest and lowest ratios of specialists to population of 100,000 people in specialty fields were observed in case of pediatricians (1.72) and neurosurgeons (0.31), respectively. The highest and lowest correlations between specialized fields and population were in pathology (0.96) and psychiatry (0.47), respectively. Meanwhile, the highest and lowest ratios of specialists to population were observed in Yazd Province (19.22) and Sistan and Baluchestan Province (8.8), respectively. This study showed a high correlation between the number of specialists and population in public hospitals of Iran. Moreover, distribution of specialists was more homogeneous during the last five years. Appropriate management can improve the current status.