Theoretical and Expert Justification of the Modern Foundations of Organizing Career Guidance Management in Healthcare

In the context of personnel shortage, the healthcare system is in dire need of effective mechanisms to attract motivated applicants and retain young specialists. However, existing approaches to career guidance fail to account for the continuity of professional self-determination and poorly coordinate the actions of stakeholders. The aim is to substantiate the conceptual framework for building a modern medical career guidance management system drawing on theory and the results of an expert survey. The theoretical basis consists of five concepts: career construction, continuous career guidance support for a person, the Third Mission of the university, stakeholder management, and digital ecosystems, which form a coherent structural base for career guidance. The empirical foundation was implemented by a survey of 240 experts (2024). The identified scientific concepts create an internally consistent methodological framework for organizing career-guidance governance in the healthcare sector. It implies an active role for the optant in career development, systemic support at all stages of professionalization, from school to independent practice, and coordination of stakeholders’ efforts by the medical university through the creation of a regional science-and-education cluster based on a digital platform.