Comprehensive evaluation of preventive medicine talent in Chinese medical vocational colleges based on the entropy weight method.

Objectives: With the increase in the mortality rate associated with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), the development of preventive medicine talent has become a top priority. In this study, the quality of preventive medicine talent was evaluated on the basis of a vocational education program that was launched by the Chinese government in 2023. Methods: A cross-sectional survey consisting of self-designed questionnaires was administered for this study, and 20 medical colleges and 1,083 graduate students were included. The questionnaire consisted of four sections: personal qualities (PQs), professional knowledge (PK), professional skills (PSs), and comprehensive competencies (CCs). We used the entropy weight method to objectively assess the quality of the preventive medicine talent. Results: The average score for talent quality in China was 88.39 points. The highest-ranked school was located in Shandong Province, with a score surpassing 95 points in our evaluation system for talent quality. Talent quality was highest in central China (89.4), followed by eastern China (89.11) and western China (85.16). The average PQ, PK, PS, and CC scores were 12.64, 26.93, 35.79 and 12.64 points, respectively, with PQ scores exhibiting the highest standard deviation (SD = 2.05). Conclusion: The national talent quality score was deemed acceptable, with the top-performing college located in Shandong. Regional disparities were evident, with higher scores in eastern/central China than in western China, which is potentially attributable to regional development gaps. Recommendations for improving talent quality include optimizing curricula for workplace relevance, strengthening public health and preventive medicine accreditation and expanding the prescribing authority of public health physicians.