Understanding Gender Differences Among Medical Students When Choosing Radiology as a Medical Specialty

The purposes of this study were to assess the career development needs of entering medical students as measured by the Medical Career Development Inventory and to examine gender differences in responses to the inventory. A total of 115 entering medical students (representing two entering classes) took the inventory two months prior to matriculation. Analysis suggested that this sample of entering students had formed a vocational identity and that they had evaluated the suitability and viability of a commitment to a physician's career. However, the participants had not formed a clear picture of their specialty interest and goals. No significant gender differences were indicated. A recommended career assistance workshop is presented as appropriate for these students' needs.

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Gender Differences and Influencing Factors in Specialty Choices: Findings From One Medical School in China

Frontiers in Public Health ◽

10.3389/fpubh.2021.648612 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Kanhua Yin ◽

Liu Yang ◽

Rui Zhang ◽

Difan Zheng ◽

Michael S. Wilkes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Medical Students ◽

Influencing Factors ◽

Medical Specialty ◽

Female Students ◽

Male Students ◽

Personal Interest ◽

Chinese Medical Students ◽

Job Opportunity ◽

The Impact

Background: Gender plays a significant role in the selection of medical specialty. Few studies have been conducted to explore the impact of gender differences on specialty choosing among Chinese medical students.Methods: The specialty choices of 648 students from six consecutive classes in an 8-year MD program were collected and compared between male and female students. A total of 110 students from one graduating class were surveyed by a questionnaire covering 22 career influencing factors. Each factor has a scale of zero to three (zero = no influence, one = mild influence, two = moderate influence, and three = strong influence).Results: Statistically significant gender differences were observed in 10 out of 16 specialties. Most male students limited their specialty choices to surgery (64%), internal medicine (12%), and orthopedics (12%), compared with a relatively diversified pattern in female students. For male students, the top three influencing factors were personal interest, future job prospects for the chosen specialty, and job opportunity in academic medicine. The strongest influencing factors of females were personal interest, specialty-specific knowledge and skills, and the sense of achievement. The expected salary was ranked among the top 10 influencing factors in male but not in females, while the work-life balance was ranked among the top 10 factors in females but not in males.Conclusion: There is a significant gender difference regarding specialty choices among Chinese medical students. Career coaching is needed to help students in their specialty choosing process.

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Stigma and Attitudes towards Mental Illness: Gender Differences in a Sample of Italian Medical Students

10.26226/morressier.5885d714d462b8028d89179a ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Marco Pascucci

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Medical Students

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Gender differences in substance use and psychiatric distress among medical students: A comprehensive statewide evaluation

Substance Abuse ◽

10.1080/08897077.2017.1355871 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (4) ◽

pp. 401-406 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Lisa J. Merlo ◽

John S. Curran ◽

Robert Watson

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Substance Use ◽

Medical Students ◽

Psychiatric Distress

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Gender Differences in Response to Experimental Pain among Medical Students from a Western State of India

International Journal of Medical Students ◽

10.5195/ijms.2014.69 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 13-17

Author(s):

Pratik Akhani ◽

Samir Mendpara ◽

Bhupendra Palan

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Gender Differences ◽

Medical Students ◽

Pain Sensitivity ◽

Pain Threshold ◽

Experimental Pain ◽

Pain Tolerance ◽

Medical Attention ◽

Pain Rating ◽

Western State

Background: Pain is one of the most common reasons for patients to seek medical attention and it causes considerable human suffering. Pain is a complex perception that differs enormously among individual patients. Gender plays an important role in how pain is experienced, coped with and treated. Even young healthy individuals often differ in how they perceive and cope with pain. This study was done to investigate gender differences in response to experimental pain among medical students from a western state in India. Methods: A total of 150 medical students (86 males and 64 females) participated in this interventional study. The Cold Pressor Test was used to exert experimental pain. To study the response, cardiovascular measures (radial pulse, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure) and pain sensitivity parameters (pain threshold, pain tolerance and pain rating) were assessed. Results: No significant difference was found in cardiovascular response to experimental pain between both the genders (p>0.05). Pain threshold and pain tolerance were found to be significantly higher in males whereas pain rating was found to be significantly higher in females (p<0.01). Pulse reactivity showed a negative relationship with pain threshold and pain tolerance whereas a positive relationship with pain rating, however no statistically significant relation was found between these measures. Conclusion: Females display greater pain sensitivity than males. Different pain perception might account for gender difference in pulse reactivity.

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Specialty choice determinants among Mexican medical students: a cross-sectional study

BMC Medical Education ◽

10.1186/s12909-019-1830-5 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Carlos Gutiérrez-Cirlos ◽

J. Jesús Naveja ◽

Manuel García-Minjares ◽

Adrián Martínez-González ◽

Melchor Sánchez-Mendiola

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Medical Specialty ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Specialty Choice ◽

Three Dimensions ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Middle Income ◽

Healthcare Needs ◽

Gynecology And Obstetrics

Abstract Background The choice of medical specialty is related to multiple factors, students’ values, and specialty perceptions. Research in this area is needed in low- and middle-income countries, where the alignment of specialty training with national healthcare needs has a complex local interdependency. The study aimed to identify factors that influence specialty choice among medical students. Methods Senior students at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) Faculty of Medicine answered a questionnaire covering demographics, personal experiences, vocational features, and other factors related to specialty choice. Chi-square tests and factor analyses were performed. Results The questionnaire was applied to 714 fifth-year students, and 697 provided complete responses (response rate 81%). The instrument Cronbach’s alpha was 0.8. The mean age was 24 ± 1 years; 65% were women. Eighty percent of the students wanted to specialize, and 60% had participated in congresses related to the specialty of interest. Only 5% wanted to remain as general practitioners. The majority (80%) wanted to enter a core specialty: internal medicine (29%), general surgery (24%), pediatrics (11%), gynecology and obstetrics (11%) and family medicine (4%). The relevant variables for specialty choice were grouped in three dimensions: personal values that develop and change during undergraduate training, career needs to be satisfied, and perception of specialty characteristics. Conclusions Specialty choice of medical students in a middle-income country public university is influenced by the undergraduate experience, the desire to study a subspecialty and other factors (including having skills related to the specialty and type of patients).

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Psychiatry as a specialization: influential factors and gender differences among medical students in a low- to middle-income country

Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/ipm.2019.38 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 111-117 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

V. I. O. Agyapong ◽

R. Owusu-Antwi ◽

A. Ritchie ◽

G. Agyapong-Opoku ◽

H. Khinda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical Training ◽

Influential Factors ◽

Career Interest ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Middle Income ◽

Training Institutions ◽

And Gender ◽

Policies And Programs

AbstractObjectivesTo assess the perception of Ghanaian medical students about factors influencing their career interest in psychiatry and to explore gender differences in these perceptions.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional quantitative survey of 5th and 6th year medical students in four public medical schools in Ghana. Data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 20.ResultsResponses were obtained from 545 medical students (response rate of 52%). Significantly, more male medical students expressed that stigma is an important consideration for them to choose or not to choose a career in psychiatry compared to their female counterparts (42.7% v. 29.7%, respectively). Over two-thirds of the medical students perceived that psychiatrists were at risk of being attacked by their patients, with just a little over a third expressing that risk was an important consideration for them to choose a career in psychiatry. There were no gender differences regarding perceptions about risk. Around 3 to 4 out of 10 medical students will consider careers in psychiatry if offered various incentives with no gender differences in responses provided.ConclusionOur study presents important and novel findings in the Ghanaian context, which can assist health policy planners and medical training institutions in Ghana to formulate policies and programs that will increase the number of psychiatry residents and thereby increase the psychiatrist-to-patient ratio in Ghana.

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