scholarly journals Diversity of the physician workforce: Specialty choice decisions during medical school

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0259434
Author(s):  
John Burkhardt ◽  
Stephen DesJardins ◽  
Larry Gruppen
Keyword(s):  
Internal Medicine ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Specialty Choice ◽  
Medical Graduate ◽  
Student Body ◽  
Medical Specialties

Background Despite efforts to increase the overall diversity of the medical student body, some medical specialties have a less diverse applicant pool based on both gender and race than would be expected based on medical graduate demographics. Objectives To identify whether women and Underrepresented in Medicine (URiM) medical students have baseline differences in their career interests or if their career plans change more during medical school when compared to men and non-URIM students. Methods Secondary data analyses of all medical students who applied through ERAS from 2005–2010 was conducted. Binary logistic regression models with the response being a planned career in one of four medical specialties (internal medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN, and general surgery/surgical specialties) at medical school entry and graduation. Regression models included demographics, student attitudes, debt, academic metrics, and medical school experiences. Results Comparatively, women were less likely to be interested in internal medicine and surgery and more interested in pediatrics and OB/GYN at matriculation. URiM students expressed more interest in OB/GYN and surgery when starting medical school. At graduation, women were less likely to plan for internal medicine and surgery and were more interested in pursuing OB/GYN and pediatrics. URiM students were more likely to plan for a career in internal medicine and less likely to choose pediatrics. Conclusions From matriculation to graduation, women have relatively stable preferences regarding planned medical specialties. In contrast, URiM students’ specialty plans shifted over time among the four specialties, with variation in preferences occurring between matriculation and graduation.

scholarly journals Relationship Between Medical Students’ Career Priority and Specialty Choice: A Nationwide Multicenter Survey

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenya Ie ◽  
Akiko Murata ◽  
Masao Tahara ◽  
Manabu Komiyama ◽  
Shuhei Ichikawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Internal Medicine ◽  
Emergency Medicine ◽  
General Practice ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Specialty Choice ◽  
Multilevel Logistic Regression ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Multicenter Survey ◽  
Specific Care

Abstract Backgrounds The shortage of physicians in several specialties has been brought to public attention in several countries. However, little is known about factors affecting medical students’ specialty choice. The objectives of our study were to illustrate medical students’ career priority clusters and to assess their association with specialty preference. Methods We conducted a nationwide multicenter survey in 2015 at 17 medical schools. The study participants were asked their top three specialty preferences, demographic characteristics, and 14 career priority questions. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to determine the effect of each variables on student career choice. Results A total of 1,264 responses were included in the analyses. The top five specialty choice were internal medicine: 833, general practice: 408, paediatrics: 372, surgery: 344, and emergency medicine: 244. An exploratory factor analysis mapped the 14 career priorities into 3-factor solution; “primary care orientation”, “advanced and specific care”, and “personal life orientation”. Multilevel logistic regression models yielded satisfactory accuracy with the highest ROC curve (AUROC) noted in surgery (0.818), general practice (0.769), and emergency medicine (0.744). The career priorities under “primary care orientation” had positive association with choosing general practice, emergency medicine, internal medicine, and paediatrics. The “advanced and specific care” career priorities facilitated surgery and emergency medicine choice, while reducing the likelihood of choosing less procedure-oriented specialties, such as internal medicine, general practice, and paediatrics. Conclusions Our results demonstrated medical students’ career priorities and their association with specialty preference. Individualized career support may be beneficial for both medical students and each specialty fields.

scholarly journals Final-year medical students’ competence profiles according to the modified requirement tracking questionnaire

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Zelesniack ◽  
Viktor Oubaid ◽  
Sigrid Harendza
Keyword(s):  
Internal Medicine ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Postgraduate Training ◽  
Mathematical Reasoning ◽  
Specialty Choice ◽  
Undergraduate Medical Students ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Medical Specialties ◽  
First Choice ◽  
Significant Difference

Abstract Background Undergraduate medical education is supposed to equip medical students with basic competences to select any specialty of their choice for postgraduate training. Medical specialties are characterized by a great diversity of their daily work routines and require different sets of competence facets. This study examines the self-assessed competence profiles of final-year undergraduate medical students and their specialty choice for postgraduate training. Students’ profiles, who wish to choose anaesthesiology, internal medicine, or paediatrics, are compared with the physicians’ competence profiles from these three disciplines. Methods In this study, 148 volunteer final-year undergraduate medical students completed the modified requirement-tracking (R-Track) questionnaire for self-assessment of their competence profiles. The R-Track questionnaire contains 63 competence facets assigned to six areas of competence: “Mental abilities”, “Sensory abilities”, “Psychomotor & multitasking abilities”, “Social interactive competences”, “Motivation”, and “Personality traits”. The expression of the different competence facets had to be assessed on a 5-point Likert scale (1: “very low” to 5: “very high”). Additionally, socio-demographic data and the participants’ first choice of a medical speciality for postgraduate education were collected. We used analysis of variance (ANOVA) for mean score comparison of subgroups and least significant difference (LSD) tests for post hoc analysis. Results The competence area with the highest rating was “Motivation” (3.70 ± 0.47) while “Psychomotor & multitasking abilities” received the lowest rating (3.34 ± 0.68). Individual facets of competence ranked from “In need of harmony” (4.36 ± 0.72), followed by “Tactfulness” (4.26 ± 0.64), and “Cooperation/Agreeableness” (4.24 ± 0.53) to “Risk orientation” (2.90 ± 0.92), “Mathematical reasoning” (2.87 ± 1.25), and “Sanctioning” (2.26 ± 0.93). The students’ competence profiles showed 100 % congruence with physicians’ competence profiles of the postgraduate specialty of their choice for internal medicine, 33.3 % for paediatrics, and 0 % for anaesthesiology. Conclusions Undergraduate medical students could define their competence profiles with the modified R-Track questionnaire and compare them with the profile of their desired specialty for postgraduate training to discover possible learning gaps or to detect good specialty matches. A combination of students’ competence self-assessment with an external assessment of students’ facets of competence could provide curricular planners with useful information how to design learning opportunities for specific facets of competence.

scholarly journals Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) medical students – an examination of their journey and experiences as medical students in limbo

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Gillezeau ◽  
Wil Lieberman-Cribbin ◽  
Kristin Bevilacqua ◽  
Julio Ramos ◽  
Naomi Alpert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Medical School ◽  
First Year ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Student Sample ◽  
Medical Specialties ◽  
Residency Programs ◽  
Deferred Action ◽  
The Status ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract Background Although the value of DACA medical students has been hypothesized, no data are available on their contribution to US healthcare. While the exact number of DACA recipients in medical school is unknown, DACA medical students are projected to represent an increasing proportion of physicians in the future. The current literature on DACA students has not analyzed the experiences of these students. Methods A mixed-methods study on the career intentions and experiences of DACA medical students was performed utilizing survey data and in-depth interviews. The academic performance of a convenience sample of DACA medical students was compared to that of matriculated medical students from corresponding medical schools, national averages, and first-year residents according to specialty. Results Thirty-three DACA medical students completed the survey and five participated in a qualitative interview. The average undergraduate GPA (SD) of the DACA medical student sample was 3.7 (0.3), the same as the national GPA of 2017–2018 matriculated medical students. The most common intended residency programs were Internal Medicine (27.2%), Emergency Medicine (15.2%), and Family Medicine (9.1%). In interviews, DACA students discussed their motivation for pursuing medicine, barriers and facilitators that they faced in attending medical school, their experiences as medical students, and their future plans. Conclusions The intent of this sample to pursue medical specialties in which there is a growing need further exemplifies the unique value of these students. It is vital to protect the status of DACA recipients and realize the contributions that DACA physicians provide to US healthcare.

scholarly journals BASH: badmouthing, attitudes and stigmatisation in healthcare as experienced by medical students

2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Ajaz ◽  
Rhodri David ◽  
Damien Brown ◽  
Melanie Smuk ◽  
Ania Korszun
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Career Choice ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
Specialty Choice ◽  
Direct Result ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Medical Specialties ◽  
Negative Comments

Aims and methodWe used an online questionnaire to investigate medical students' perceptions of the apparent hierarchy between specialties, whether they have witnessed disparaging comments (‘badmouthing’ or ‘bashing’) against other specialists and whether this has had an effect on their career choice.ResultsIn total, 960 students from 13 medical schools completed the questionnaire; they ranked medical specialties according to the level of badmouthing and answered questions on their experience of specialty bashing. Psychiatry and general practice attracted the greatest number of negative comments, which were made by academic staff, doctors and students. Twenty-seven per cent of students had changed their career choice as a direct result of bashing and a further 25.5% stated they were more likely to change their specialty choice. Although 80.5% of students condemned badmouthing as unprofessional, 71.5% believed that it is a routine part of practising medicine.Clinical implicationsBashing of psychiatry represents another form of stigmatisation that needs to be challenged in medical schools. It not only has an impact on recruitment into the specialty, but also has the wider effect of stigmatising people with mental health disorders.

scholarly journals Psychiatry at the Careers Fair

1983 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 222-223
Author(s):  
David Goldberg
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Junior Doctors ◽  
Medical Specialties

Earlier this year the Department of Psychiatry was invited to participate in a Careers Fair at the Medical School, organized by the Postgraduate Dean's Department rather than the BMA. This fair was aimed at medical students and junior doctors, and consisted of poster displays and stands by many different medical specialties. The students attended in huge numbers and in discussions afterwards their representatives commented that it was particularly helpful to realize that careers were available in specialties such as dermatology, venereology and some branches of chemical pathology.

scholarly journals FMAQ-S: Development of a Short Form of the Family Medicine Attitudes Questionnaire

PRiMER ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hana Kang ◽  
Jacob Prunuske ◽  
Andrea L. Wendling ◽  
Jennifer Edwards-Johnson ◽  
Julie P. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Item Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Criterion Validity ◽  
Specialty Choice ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
Item Discrimination

Introduction: Identifying and training students who choose family medicine careers is essential to meeting primary care workforce needs in the United States. Medical students’ positive attitudes toward family medicine are associated with students’ choice of family medicine as a specialty. This study sought to refine a previously tested questionnaire assessing US medical students’ attitudes toward family medicine by shortening the questionnaire to make it more useful in educational practice and research settings. Methods: We refined our existing 14-item questionnaire by item analysis and validation. We conducted item analysis using a graded response model approach after identifying the unidimensionality of the original scale. We selected items based on their item discrimination parameters and item information levels, and calculated the correlation between specialty choice and family medicine attitudes score to evaluate criterion validity. Results: Exploratory factor analyses indicated the questionnaire is unidimensional. Among the original 14 items, 10 items had high item discrimination parameters and low standard error of measurement. These 10 items contribute the most to distinguishing individuals’ differences in family medicine attitudes and were selected for inclusion in the short-form questionnaire (FMAQ-S). The point-biserial correlation between the short-form scale and students’ choice of family medicine was 0.378, which provides supporting evidence for criterion validity. Conclusion: The FMAQ-S is a concise and validated measure for assessing medical student attitudes toward family medicine. This abbreviated questionnaire can be used by medical educators to identify students for specific programming or interventions intended to support family medicine specialty choice.

scholarly journals Making a Medical School Class Whole: A Holistic Approach to Student Government

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 238212052093255
Author(s):  
Derek Soled ◽  
Shivangi Goel
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Medical School ◽  
School Administration ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
Student Government ◽  
Student Body ◽  
School Class ◽  
Unique Role

Student government has a unique role in medical schools, where it can function to strongly nurture the well-being of a class. Student body representatives have a better understanding of the interests of medical students and the adversity they face. Thus, the student government is in a prime position to make positive change in the lives of their classmates with help from the school administration. This article explores these ideas and is written from the perspective of the co-presidents of the student body at a northeast medical school.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INDEBTEDNESS AND THE SPECIALTY CHOICES OF GRADUATING MEDICAL STUDENTS

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-40
Author(s):  
J. F. L.
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Residency Training ◽  
Specialty Choice ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Educational Debt ◽  
Specialty Certification

Analysis of data from the 1992 GQ has shown that educational debt was not a factor significantly influencing most graduates' specialty choices . . . As a strong or major influence, debt affected the specialty choices of only 6.2% of the 1992 graduates who had decided on a specialty. However, for students with debts of $75,000 or more, debt became more important, having a strong or major influence on the choices of surgical (13.9%) and support (20.3%) specialties. Although the effects of debt on specialty choice were found to be small . . . it is disturbing to note that over 20% of medical school graduates have such levels of indebtedness. Length of residency training, as a factor affecting specialty choice, generally was a strong or major influence for only 9.0% of respondents. However, this number increased to 20.5% for respondents with debts of $75,000 or more who planned generalist specialty certification, suggesting that high debt turned students toward, as well as away from, the generalist specialties.

Medical schools, primary care and family medicine: clerkship directors’ perceptions of the current environment

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 680-684
Author(s):  
Maribeth Porter ◽  
Denny Fe Agana ◽  
Robert Hatch ◽  
Susmita Datta ◽  
Peter J Carek
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Medical School ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Specialty Choice ◽  
Medicine Clerkship ◽  
Negative Comments ◽  
The Usa

Abstract Background The culture at a medical school and the positive experiences in primary care clerkships influence student specialty choice. This choice is significant if the demand for primary care physicians is to be met. The aim of this study was to examine family medicine clerkship directors’ perceptions of the medical school environment. Methods Data were collected as part of the 2015 Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance Family Medicine Clerkship Director survey. Questions asked included how clerkship directors perceived the environment of their medical school towards family medicine, has the environment towards family medicine changed between 2010 and 2015, do they take action to influence student attitudes towards family medicine and whether faculty members in other departments make negative comments about family medicine. Results The response rate was 79.4%. While most respondents indicated the environment of their medical school has become more positive towards family medicine, a majority of clerkship directors perceived the environment to be either very much against, slightly against or indifferent towards family medicine. Nearly one-half (41.4%) of the clerkship directors were notified more than once a year that a faculty member of another department made a negative comment about family medicine. Results varied among regions of the USA and between schools located in the USA and Canada. Conclusion Family medicine clerkship directors often perceived negativity towards family medicine, a finding that may limit the effectiveness of academic health centres in their mission to better serve their community and profession.

scholarly journals Development of a physical activity monitoring tool for Thai medical schools: a protocol for a mixed methods study

BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. e017297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Apichai Wattanapisit ◽  
Surasak Vijitpongjinda ◽  
Udomsak Saengow ◽  
Waluka Amaek ◽  
Sanhapan Thanamee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
General Information ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Treatment And Prevention ◽  
Physical Activity Monitoring

IntroductionPhysical activity (PA) is important in promoting health, as well as in the treatment and prevention of diseases. However, insufficient PA is still a global health problem and it is also a problem in medical schools. PA training in medical curricula is still sparse or non-existent. There is a need for a comprehensive understanding of the extent of PA in medical schools through several indicators, including people, places and policies. This study includes a survey of the PA prevalence in a medical school and development of a tool, the Medical School Physical Activity Report Card (MSPARC), which will contain concise and understandable infographics and information for exploring, monitoring and reporting information relating to PA prevalence.Methods and analysisThis mixed methods study will run from January to September 2017. We will involve the School of Medicine, Walailak University, Thailand, and its medical students (n=285). Data collection will consist of both primary and secondary data, divided into four parts: general information, people, places and policies. We will investigate the PA metrics about (1) people: the prevalence of PA and sedentary behaviours; (2) place: the quality and accessibility of walkable neighbourhoods, bicycle facilities and recreational areas; and (3) policy: PA promotion programmes for medical students, education metrics and investments related to PA. The MSPARC will be developed using simple symbols, infographics and short texts to evaluate the PA metrics of the medical school.Ethics and disseminationThis study has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of Walailak University (protocol number: WUEC-16-005-01). Findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national or international conferences. The MSPARC and full report will be disseminated to relevant stakeholders, policymakers, staff and clients.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document