Time-motion study in primary health care in moldova: How do family doctors and medical assistants spend their work time?
Family doctors used nearly half of their work time on direct patient care, while medical assistants spent less than one third, with administrative tasks taking up most of medical assistants' time. Consultation durations were short for both cadres, especially among medical assistants, reflecting the high workload in primary health care in Moldova. Additionally, health personnel contracted for 1.5 full-time equivalents worked consistently fewer hours than required by their contracts, indicating this system does not improve patient access or resolve personnel shortages.
Authors
- Ala Curteanu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5311-1084)
- Helen Prytherch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-5718)
- Alexandra Topa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3502-2923)
- Jari Kempers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7651-4470)
- Ghenadie Curocichin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0613-4360)
- Altiona Muho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2464-3513)
Institutions
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (CH)
- University of Basel (CH)
- Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FI)
- Nicolae Testemițanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy (MD)
- Institute of Applied Physics (MD)
Publication Details
- Journal
- PLoS ONE
- Published
- 2025-04-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321371
- Primary Topic
- Global Health Workforce Issues
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00