Your medical career

Author(s):  
David McGowan ◽  
Helen Sims
Keyword(s):  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-187
Author(s):  
Maciej Walkiewicz ◽  
Małgorzata Tartas

The goal of the paper is to describe the extent to which medical students and professionals are vulnerable to extreme stress. A select review of existing literature on this area has been undertaken, using the English-language online databases EBSCO, Medline and PubMed. The search has identified 36 citations relating to 6324 medical students and 28,285 medical staff (physicians, residents, nurses). The review indicates that merely beginning medical studies is a risk factor for stress, and that medical professionals, who are vulnerable to extreme work stress, say that they do not receive enough support from their co-workers. They are also often notably impulsive, introverted, neurotic and perfectionist, with low emotional intelligence and agreeableness, as well as low and external locus of control. Additionally, from longitudinal studies we have been able to identify psychological factors underpinning admission to a medical university that may be useful for predicting future stress in medical career. The results of this study may be taken into account when organizing psychological intervention programs targeted at educating future medical professionals. It seems that early identification of people at risk could reduce the impact of stress related to medical career and enhance the somatic and mental health of medical professionals.


2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
L. P. Hwi ◽  
J. W. Ting

Cecil Cameron Ewing (1925-2006) was a lecturer and head of ophthalmology at the University of Saskatchewan. Throughout his Canadian career, he was an active researcher who published several articles on retinoschisis and was the editor of the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology. For his contributions to Canadian ophthalmology, the Canadian Ophthalmological Society awarded Ewing a silver medal. Throughout his celebrated medical career, Ewing maintained his passion for music. His love for music led him to be an active member in choir, orchestra, opera and chamber music in which he sang and played the piano, violin and viola. He was also the director of the American Liszt Society and a member for over 40 years. The connection between music and ophthalmology exists as early as the 18th Century. John Taylor (1703-1772) was an English surgeon who specialized in eye diseases. On the one hand, Taylor was a scientist who contributed to ophthalmology by publishing books on ocular physiology and diseases, and by advancing theories of strabismus. On the other hand, Taylor was a charlatan who traveled throughout Europe and blinded many patients with his surgeries. Taylor’s connection to music was through his surgeries on two of the most famous Baroque composers: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and George Frederick Handel (1685-1759). Bach had a painful eye disorder and after two surgeries by Taylor, Bach was blind. Handel had poor or absent vision prior to Taylor’s surgery, and his vision did not improve after surgery. The connection between ophthalmology and music spans over three centuries from the surgeries of Taylor to the musical passion of Ewing. Ewing E. Cecil Cameron Ewing. BMJ 2006; 332(7552):1278. Jackson DM. Bach, Handel, and the Chevalier Taylor. Med Hist 1968; 12(4):385-93. Zegers RH. The Eyes of Johann Sebastian Bach. Arch Ophthalmol 2005; 123(10):1427-30.


Open Medicine ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 502-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edmond Girasek ◽  
Regina Molnár ◽  
Edit Eke ◽  
Miklós Szócska

AbstractSome decades ago being a medical doctor was characterized unambiguously as a profession that offers help and serves the patients’ needs during medical treatment. In today’s society, this image of the medical profession has been substantially changed. The present paper aims to examine medical career choice motivations and preferences of choosing speciality, in the light of current social and economic changes in Hungary. The study was carried out by using a voluntary, self-administrated, questionnaire among first-year medical students and resident doctors in four medical faculties in Hungary. The career choice motivations of the first-year medical students and resident doctors are similar and match to the traditional health profession career choice motivations. Nevertheless the first-year students consider high income as one of the most important factors. They appear more conscious and more ambitious regarding their future speciality choice. The Hungarian health care system and medical education must be prepared for the presence of students that are aware of the high market value of a medical diploma, have excellent language skills, and consider migration as one main factor in their motivation when choosing a medical profession.


1941 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
K. S. ◽  
Harvey Cushing
Keyword(s):  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongbin Wu ◽  
Leisi Pei ◽  
Shan Li ◽  
Cheng Jiang

Abstract Background: Academically talented high school students (ATHSSs), an exceptional cohort, are not well studied for their career expectations, especially for those with medical career expectation (MCE). Nowadays, the public perception of the medical profession is changing in China. The purpose of this study was to answer questions about ‘is medicine attractive for ATHSSs and ‘what factors affect medical career expectations (MCE) for ATHSSs’ in China. Methods: A total of 16,479 representative ATHSSs in senior three completed a questionnaire and four different academic tests. Frequency statistics showed the proportion of ATHSSs with MCE. Unpaired t-tests were performed to find out the differences in demographics, family background, and academic performance between students with and without MCE. The logit models analysis were applied to explore the potential factors that affected the MCE of this exceptional group of students. Results: ATHSSs with MCE accounted for 20.6% (ranking 7/18) of the respondents. They were more likely to be female, came from relatively poorer families, lived in a rural area, and performed significantly worse in all academic tests except for mathematics, compared with those without MCE. In addition, the results revealed that gender (β=-0.436, p<0.01), region of hometown (β=-103, p<0.1), mother’s years of schooling (β=-0.019, p<0.05), and father’s occupational status (β=-0.005, p<0.01) contributed significantly to the MCE of academically talented students. Better performance in mathematics affected the MCE of ATHSSs taking the liberal arts and science tests differently. Conclusions: We found the medical career is becoming unattractive to academically talented students and the medical career may be loosing their aura in China. Students who have medical career expectations are likely to be females and to have a weak family background. We discuss implications for medical education.


2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-21
Author(s):  
Harutaka Yamaguchi ◽  
Hirotoshi Fujimoto ◽  
Shoko Akiyama ◽  
Sarara Masuda ◽  
Shino Yuasa ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harris A. Eyre ◽  
Rob D. Mitchell ◽  
Will Milford ◽  
Nitin Vaswani ◽  
Steven Moylan

Portfolio careers in medicine can be defined as significant involvement in one or more portfolios of activity beyond a practitioner’s primary clinical role, either concurrently or in sequence. Portfolio occupations may include medical education, research, administration, legal medicine, the arts, engineering, business and consulting, leadership, politics and entrepreneurship. Despite significant interest among junior doctors, portfolios are poorly integrated with prevocational and speciality training programs in Australia. The present paper seeks to explore this issue. More formal systems for portfolio careers in Australia have the potential to increase job satisfaction, flexibility and retention, as well as diversify trainee skill sets. Although there are numerous benefits from involvement in portfolio careers, there are also risks to the trainee, employing health service and workforce modelling. Formalising pathways to portfolio careers relies on assessing stakeholder interest, enhancing flexibility in training programs, developing support programs, mentorship and coaching schemes and improving support structures in health services. What is known about the topic? Portfolio careers are well understood as a career structure in general business. However, in medicine little is known about the concept of portfolio careers, their drivers, benefits and risks. There are significant issues faced by the Australian junior medical workforce such as a need for diversified skill-sets (e.g. increased involvement in research, public health and leadership), low job satisfaction for junior doctors and an increasing emphasis of work-life balance and mental well-being. What does this paper add? This paper critically analyses the concept of portfolio careers in the postgraduate setting by critiquing literature on the international and national experiences in this field. This paper outlines potential benefits of portfolio careers requiring further research, such as a diversification in the workforce and improved job satisfaction. Risks include reducing the health service provision capacity of junior doctors and drawing doctors away from a medical career. What are the implications for practitioners? This paper has substantial educational and workforce implications for medical students, junior doctors and medical managers. For medical students and junior doctors this paper frames the possibilities in a medical career, as well as benefits and risks of aiming for a portfolio career in medicine. For medical managers, this paper suggests strategies for further research, enhancing workforce job satisfaction and potential pitfalls of increasing opportunities for medical portfolio careers.


Author(s):  
Gia Merlo

Principles of Medical Professionalism will inform both future physicians and current practitioners that being a medical professional is not about being perfect, but rather about being human and recognizing our own limitations. The reader can therefore learn to manage their expectations about the profession while becoming more resilient to disruptions in the medical field such as artificial intelligence and the changing patient–doctor relationship. This book takes into consideration challenges to the uniform integration of a formal medical professionalism curriculum and addresses the critical need for support of practitioners’ professional development and identity formation throughout the various stages and transitions in their medical career. Overall, each chapter of this book aims to challenge the reader to engage in a process of self-reflection using the framework of the Gibb’s reflective cycle and provides health professionals of all levels with practical tools and techniques that will allow them to become more competent caregivers and leaders in their field. Indeed, the ultimate goal of the book is to encourage a medical educational framework supporting personal and professional transformation that may lead to more resilient and happier physicians. Thus, physicians may be better equipped to attend to the tasks of patient care that incorporate attention to healing, caring, and, compassion, while upholding their duty to serve the patient and society.


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