Is the Compulsory Research Project the Main Issue in Completing Talent Grooming Programme? A Qualitative Study

Introduction  One of the initiatives of the MOH in developing future healthcare leaders is through the Talent Grooming Programme for Technical Healthcare Professionals (TGP). A research project is made mandatory before the talents can complete the programme. However, only 46.2% of them completed TGP within the stipulated time of 3 years. Therefore, a study was performed to evaluate the issues and challenges in completing the programme. A qualitative study was conducted to explore the personal experiences of talents by looking at the issues and challenges in completing TGP. This paper will highlight the issues revolving TGP Project. 

Methodology  Maximum variation sampling was used to recruit 57 participants who were probe using semi-structured interviews between Sept 2019 - Mac 2020.  Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Thematic analysis was performed using open coding followed by second-order coding. 

Results  TGP project was the main obstacle for many talents towards completing TGP.  The challenges could be divided into three categories, namely individual reasons, workplace challenges, project planning and execution. The main issue under individual reasons was lack of knowledge and experience in research.  Time constraint emerged as the foremost issue related to workplace challenges. The narrow scope of TGP research project was a major setback in the project planning and subsequently the main hindrance towards project execution and TGP completion. 

Discussion/Conclusion  Scope expansion to provide similar consideration to projects that best reflect the leadership skills at the talent's workplace should be taken into consideration besides providing more research support to talents.   

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