Retention of the health workforce in rural and remote areas: a systematic review.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2010 Increasing access to health workers in remote and rural areas through improved retention: global policy recommendations included a recommendation to review in 2013; as well as commissioning three reports on the: impact of compulsory service ; role of outreach support ; and realistic evaluation of interventions. This literature review builds on the original systematic review which covered literature published from 1995–2009. The aim of this report is to gain insights from “what the evidence tells us” about the impact of the guidelines, and to inform an update of the 2010 WHO global policy recommendations.