Work Time Allocation of Family Doctors in Rural Tajikistan

There is a little-known study about how family doctors actually use their working time providing patient care, administration, and other activities. This paper investigates this issue for family doctors who are working in health facilities of a rural area in Tajikistan. To capture information about time allocation, 24 family doctors were observed during conventional working hours by observers for five days each over a period of four weeks. Data collection was conducted in the four randomly selected districts in rural Tajikistan in 2015. Results were presented in terms of percentage of time allocation for direct patient treatment, documentation activities, continuous medical education, health promotion, traveling and walking, and for unproductive time. Time allocation was also compared between family doctors working at the polyclinics and at the rural health centers. The data collected can be used for future decision making and as a baseline to assess the impact of further reforms in the healthcare system of Tajikistan.