What Do We Know about Young People’s Interest in Health Careers?

Health workforce shortages are reported in most countries around the world, and there are concerns that these shortages might worsen in the coming years due to population ageing. Increasing the training of new doctors and nurses is one of the main policy levers to respond to growing demand for health services and address shortages. However, expanding educational capacity will prove ineffective if there is not a sufficient pool of qualified and motivated candidates to fill these positions.

This technical report reviews available data on students’ interest in health sector jobs from two main sources: 1) the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey that covers around 80 OECD and non-OECD countries and economies; and 2) student applications and admissions to health education programmes based on national administrative data.

The data from the PISA survey indicate that the interest of 15-year-old students in pursuing careers in the health sector has decreased in about half of OECD countries between 2018 and 2022 and has also decreased in several non-OECD countries.

Date of original publication: 28/01/2025