The Relationship between Digital Technology and the Development of the Entrepreneurial Competencies of Young People in the Medical Field

Abstract

Digital technology is an important tool that influences employees from the healthcare sector to manifest their intention to become an entrepreneur. Furthermore, the last pandemic crisis underlined the importance of digitalizing the relationship between medical staff and patients. The research aims to evaluate how digital technology influences the development of the entrepreneurial spirit of young people working in the medical field. The data were gathered from a sample of 395 young people with medical studies and analyzed with SMARTPLS4 using the PLS-SEM method. The motivation of young people with a background in the medical field to become entrepreneurs is strongly influenced by the objective assessment of the level of digitalization of the medical field. The usability and availability of new technology give people with a background in the medical field the desire to become an entrepreneur in this domain. The young people perceive their entrepreneurial potential in complementarity with the level of digitalization of the medical field. The research’s theoretical and practical contributions are underlined by the features of the young people that consider new technology as an omnipresent tool in their life. In the medical field, there are few theoretical papers and studies on the entrepreneurial spirit of young people with a background in healthcare, and our research underlines the importance of training the entrepreneurial competencies of young people in the medical field. The COVID-19 pandemic underlined the relevance of entrepreneurial competencies in building sustainable healthcare practices and identifying the deficiencies of healthcare systems to find timely solutions for the benefit of the patients. Therefore, the challenges related to the medical services market require a new approach to doctors’ entrepreneurial competencies.