Analysis on the differences between employment quality and social demand of graduates majoring in traditional Chinese medicine / 中华医学教育探索杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the differences between the employment quality of graduates ma-joring in Chinese medicine and the demand of employers for providing theoretical reference for improving the employment rate of students in Chinese medicine colleges and universities. Methods The questionnaire on the employment quality of graduates majoring in traditional Chinese medicine and the needs of employers was designed based on the interviews and literature review. The questionnaire contains the dimensions of knowledge, ability and professional accomplishment, with several observation points in each dimension. Each observation point is measured by Likert 5 points, with "5" being the most important and "1" the least important. During the 2017 campus recruitment period of Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 350 questionnaires were issued to the graduates and 312 valid questionnaires were collected through convenient sampling, while 228 questionnaires were issued to the employers and 195 valid were collected. The database was established by using Excel software and the independent sample t test was conducted by using SPSS 22.0. Results The differences between graduates and employers were statistically significant in academic performance, knowledge structure, internship experience, professional conformity, scientific crea-tivity, experience of student cadres, CET-4 & CET-6 certificate, physical and mental health, honesty and trustworthiness (t=9.016, P=0.022; t=9.498, P=0.000; t=2.303, P=0.031; t=11.000, P=0.000; t=6.815, P=0.000; t=2.208, P=0.035; t=3.565, P=0.041; t=3.066, P=0.005; t=4.441, P=0.036). Conclusion There is a gap between the employment quality of graduates majoring in traditional Chinese medicine and the demand of employers. Traditional Chinese medicine colleges and universities can improve the employment quality of graduates and promote their successful employment by accelerating the course integration reform, and strengthening the construction of school spirit and credit evaluation system.