Medical Students’ Perception of Family Medicine and Career Choice

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-28
Author(s):  
Moon Young Kang ◽  
Na Yeon Kim ◽  
Jang Mi Lee ◽  
Seung Wan Hong ◽  
Young Sung Suh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Career Choice

scholarly journals A time-trend analysis of intended career choice for family medicine among croatian medical students

2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-167
Author(s):  
Jelena Evic ◽  
Gordana Pavlekovic ◽  
Lucija Murgic ◽  
Hana Brborovic
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Career Choice ◽  
Work Motivation ◽  
Binary Logistic Regression ◽  
School Of Medicine ◽  
Family Practitioners ◽  
Comprehensive Primary Health Care ◽  
The University

Abstract Aim: To gain insight into the trend of career choice for family medicine in Croatia in recent years. Methods: Six surveys were performed in the academic years 2006/07-2011/12 at the University of Zagreb, School of Medicine. Altogether, 1140 6th year students participated. They anonymously completed a questionnaire containing questions on desired future specialisation as well as other selected characteristics (e.g. gender, desired area and place of work, motivation to study medicine, etc.). Binary logistic regression was used to determine unadjusted and adjusted trends. Results: After adjustment for selected factors, the relationship between observed outcome and the year of observation showed an evident decreasing trend. The odds for intention to specialise in family medicine were in the academic year 2006/2007 1.43-times higher than in the year 2007/2008 (p=0.412), 1.85-times higher than in the year 2008/2009 (p=0.168), 2.38-times higher than in the year 2009/2010 (p=0.051), 2.63-times higher than in the year 2010/2011 (p=0.027) and 3.85-times higher than in the year 2011/2012 (p=0.003). Conclusions: The results of the present study offer evidence that Croatia is experiencing a constantly decreasing trend of career choice for family medicine in recent years. It is obvious that final year medical students are not very much interested in working as family practitioners. At the same time, demand for family practitioners in Croatia is increasing. Both academic and professional societies have a social responsibility to reorient the health care system and medical curricula towards comprehensive primary health care in which family medicine has a key role.

scholarly journals Earning opportunities and informal payment as influencing factors in medical students’ speciality choice

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
András Mohos ◽  
Thomas Frese ◽  
László Kolozsvári ◽  
József Rinfel ◽  
Albert Varga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Career Choice ◽  
Family Doctor ◽  
Monthly Income ◽  
Informal Payment ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Future Income ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract Background The Hungarian primary care system faces a severe shortage of family physicians. Medical students’ perceptions of family medicine need to be known and medical students need to be given appropriate and comprehensible information about this speciality. The expected future salary is an important factor in career choice. Most of the family doctors are self-employed and the practices have a corrected capitation-type financing. Although the majority of health care services are covered by social health insurance and are provided for the insured patients free of charge, informal payment is an existing phenomenon with different motivations and consequences. This study aimed to investigate medical students’ knowledge about their future earning opportunities and their attitudes towards informal payment. Methods A cross sectional survey with a self-administered questionnaire was conducted. Each of the four Hungarian medical universities were represented by their medical students who attended family medicine lectures in person from December 2019 to April 2020. The students were asked about their career plans, about their estimations of current and ideal expected salaries and about the effect of expected income for the choice of specialisation. Their attitudes towards informal payment were assessed. Results Response rate was 67.3% (N = 465/691). Almost two-thirds of the participants were women. Only 5% of the respondents (N = 23/462) plan to work as a family doctor in the future. The vast majority (91.9%) of the students had already thought about their future income. On a 10-point Likert scale (1 = ‘no influence’, 10 = ‘very big influence’) 76% answered that the expected future income exerts a considerable (≥5 Likert points) influence on their career choice in general. The mean of the ideal expected monthly income of the residents, GPs and other specialists was €1154 ± 648, €1696 ± 904 and €2174 ± 1594, respectively. The mean of the monthly income for a GP, as estimated by the studenst, was €1140 in rural and €1122 in urban settings. More than four-fifths of the students (N = 375/453) rejected the practice of informal payment. Conclusions Expected salaray is one important aspect in the career choice of medical students, students wish to have more information on this topic. The reported ideal incomes are higher than those expected. This points to a relevant gap. However, most of the students do not accept informal payment as a possibility to close this gap. The expected and the ideal income differ from the real incomes of Hungarian GPs – this indicates the need of bringing objectoive information to the students to enhance attractivity of GP as a carer choice.

scholarly journals Long-term evaluation of undergraduate family medicine curriculum in Slovenia

2008 ◽  
Vol 136 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 274-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Svab ◽  
Marija Petek-Ster
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Career Choice ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Learning Objectives ◽  
Career Preference ◽  
Term Evaluation

Introduction In 1994, as a result of curriculum reform, the Ljubljana medical school established its first department of family medicine and introduced its first curriculum of family medicine. The new subject was well accepted by the students and the medical school. Nevertheless, there was no comprehensive analysis of the curriculum during this period. Objective Our aims were to assess the quality of teaching based on fulfilled expectations, pre-defined learning objectives and satisfaction in a 10-year period, and to measure changes in career preference towards family medicine. Method An analysis of two sets of questionnaires, routinely given to medical students in academic years 1997/1998 and 2006/2007, was made. Results Most of the students' expectations were met, and the level increased over ten years. The level of achievement of learning objectives has been high and increased over the ten-year period. Family medicine still receives high scores in students' satisfaction. Although there is evidence that the family medicine curriculum is well accepted and that it improves some of the attitudes towards family medicine, it does not influence the career choice of students. Conclusion The level of achievement of learning objectives increased with the experiences of the teachers. We improved the attitude of medical students toward general practice and general practitioners. We have not been successful in influencing career choice of students, which is an objective that is probably outside our reach.

scholarly journals Preference of final year medical students towards family medicine as a career choice: A comparative study from Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tabinda Ashfaq ◽  
Faisal Shahzad ◽  
Aiesha Ishaq ◽  
Sajida Naseem ◽  
Fahad Saleem
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Career Choice ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Medical Curriculum ◽  
Private University ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Care Approach

Introduction: Career choices by newly graduated doctors play an important role in the provision of health care and for the making of health policies. Family Medicine is not being recognized as a specialty of choice among the health care society. The objective of this study was to see the preference of final year medical students towards family medicine as a career choice and its associated factors. Methodology: This was a cross sectional study conducted among final year medical students of private and government medical colleges who were exposed and not exposed to family medicine teaching, after taking informed consent. Results: Out of a total of 175 students 158 planned to go for specialization. Among them a small number, 16 from government and 4 from a private university, planned to join family medicine residency. The majority (74) from private university believed that there is a difference between general practitioner and family physician. Nearly all of them (75) believed holistic care approach as a main domain of family physicians. All private and few government university students said that Family Medicine should be incorporated as a subject in the undergraduate medical curriculum. Recommendations: Family Medicine is in its infancy stage and requires the dire need to increase its awareness through sessions and seminars among health care professionals. Key words: Family medicine, career choice, medical students

How Experiences in a Medical School Affect Medical Students’ Attitudes Toward Family Medicine as a Career Choice: A Mixed-Method Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwanchanok Homsangpradit ◽  
Saipin Hathirat ◽  
Sutida Sumrithe
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Career Choice ◽  
Family Physician ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Holistic Care ◽  
Mixed Method Study ◽  
Students Attitudes

Abstract Background: Family practice is the key element of a primary care system. A shortage of family physicians is an important issue in Thailand. However, Thai medical students still show low interest in pursuing a career in family medicine. The objective of this research is to study how a curriculum, an extra-curricular activity, and a hidden curriculum in a medical school affect medical students’ attitude toward family medicine as their career choice.Methods: This research is a mixed-method study with a sequential-explanatory design. The quantitative part is an online questionnaire to obtain a distribution of interest in a career of family physician. It was distributed among 181 senior medical students of Ramathibodi medical school; out of which 64 have participated. In the qualitative part, a total of 14 students who met the inclusion criteria were chosen from the questionnaire and from a snowball sampling to participate in an in-depth interview. Thereafter, a content analysis was done to identify themes.Results: Four out of 64 participants showed interest in a career of family physician, but only one participant was strongly interested. As the whole curriculum focuses mostly on specialty contents, only the family medicine department teaches holistic care and students find it difficult to understand. Some students perceive that a psychosocial assessment intrudes too much into a patient’s personal life and is not a physician task. The examination-based curriculum causes them to lack spare time to participate in any extra-curricular activity. The students received both positive and negative comments about family physicians from other specialists. However, this hidden curriculum does not have a direct impact on the student’s decision to choose their career path. Important factors that influence the decision are their personal interests, masteries, family factors, a work-life balance, and a humanized environment. Conclusions: Experiences in medical school have an impact on medical students’ attitudes toward family physician as a career choice. A disease-oriented care model is still dominating Thai medical education. Therefore, the curriculum needs to be reformed to promote the importance of holistic care. This will lead to an increase in the production of Thai family physicians.

Attitudes about Family Medicine among brazilian medical students

2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 336-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Freeman ◽  
Patricia Kelly ◽  
Pablo González Blasco ◽  
Marcelo Levites
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Family Medicine

Pilot Project: Does formal bedside training of medical students with a FAST exam increase their knowledge and comfort level with ultrasound use in a community family medicine practice setting?

POCUS Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-17
Author(s):  
Rimi Sambi, MD ◽  
Heather Sawula, MD ◽  
Brent Wolfrom, MD ◽  
Joseph Newbigging, MD
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Undergraduate Curriculum ◽  
Knowledge Retention ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Point Of Care Ultrasound ◽  
Medical Undergraduate ◽  
Fast Exam

As point of care ultrasound (PoCUS) becomes increasingly popular and a standard of care in many clinical settings, the interest for integration in medical undergraduate curriculum is also growing [1]. This project aims to assess whether formal bedside Focused Abdominal Scan for Trauma (FAST) exam training of medical students increases their knowledge and comfort with the use of bedside ultrasound in a family medicine setting at Queen’s University. Third year medical students (n=18) were recruited to participate in a training session involving a 1-hour online video and 2-hour hands-on session. Knowledge based surveys were completed before and after the training. A survey was completed 4 months after the teaching session evaluating knowledge retention, comfort, and application of skills. Student knowledge of PoCUS and FAST increased and was maintained (pre-training 56%±20%, post-training 82%±10%, p<0.001). Self-evaluation of comfort performing a FAST examination (5-point Likert scale) similarly increased post-training session (pre-training 1.4±0.8, post-training 3.8±0.9, p<0.005), but decreased 4 months later (3±1.2, p<0.005). Students in this study were unanimously interested in ultrasound training and the methods used effectively increased theoretical knowledge and comfort with use. Students did not retain their comfort levels with FAST exam 4 months after the training session, nor did they have the opportunity to utilize the skills learned. Further evidence is required to identify the applicability of these results to undergraduate curriculum development.

Perceptions of Final Year Medical Students about Family Medicine as A Career Choice in Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dur-e- Nishat
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Medical College ◽  
Chi Square Test

Background: Family medicine is a field in which complete and detailed set of healthcare services are provided to the patients and their families. In developed countries, freshly graduated students choose family medicine as a priority for their career. However, in Pakistan it is not the case. The present study is undertaken to determine the perceptions of final year medical students’ about Family Medicine as a viable career. Methods: A total number of 504 students participated in the study. This was a cross-sectional study. The study participants were in their final year of medical college. Data was collected using a preapproved questionnaire. Data was entered and analyzed via SPSS version 17 and Chi-Square test was used post-stratification. Results: Only 14.3% (n=72) medical students had heard about Family Medicine. Only 18% (n=92) would select family medicine as a profession. The most frequent rationale for choosing the field of Family Medicine was the variety of patients seen in general practice (55.4% n=51). Conclusion: There is a dire need to focus on increasing awareness about the field of family medicine among medical students. The students should be counseled on the advantages along with the disadvantages of choosing this field as a medical profession.

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