Dataset Information

Medical Specialty Choice and Related Factors of Brazilian Medical Students and Recent Doctors.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Choosing a medical specialty is an important, complex, and not fully understood process. The present study investigated the factors that are related to choosing and rejecting medical specialties in a group of students and recent medical doctors.

Methodology and findings

A cross-sectional survey of 1,223 medical students and doctors was performed in Brazil in 2012. A standardized literature-based questionnaire was applied that gathered preferable or rejected specialties, and asked questions about extracurricular experiences and the influence of 14 factors on a Likert-type scale from 0 to 4. Specialties were grouped according to lifestyle categories: controllable and uncontrollable, which were subdivided into primary care, internal medicine, and surgical specialties. Notably, the time period of rejection was usually earlier than the time period of intended choice (p < 0.0001, ?(2) = 107.2). The choice mainly occurred during the internship period in medical school (n = 466; 38.7%). An overall large frequency of participation in extracurricular activities was observed (n = 1,184; 95.8%), which were highly associated with the respective medical area. Orthopedic surgery had the highest correlation with participation in specialty-specific organized groups (OR = 59.9, 95% CI = 21.6-166.3) and psychiatry was correlated with participation in research groups (OR = 18.0, 95% CI = 9.0-36.2). With regard to influential factors in controllable lifestyle specialties, "financial reason" (mean score ± standard deviation: 2.8 ± 1.0; median = 3) and "personal time" (3.1 ± 1.3; median = 4) were important factors. In primary care, these factors were less important (1.7 ± 1.3 and 1.7 ± 1.5, respectively; median = 2 for both), and higher scores were observed for "curricular internship" (3.2 ± 1.1, median = 4) and "social commitment" (2.6 ± 1.3, median = 3).

Conclusion

The present findings provide important insights into developing strategies to stimulate interest in specialties based on the needs of the Brazilian healthcare system.

SUBMITTER: Correia Lima de Souza L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4514603 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Medical Specialty Choice and Related Factors of Brazilian Medical Students and Recent Doctors.

Correia Lima de Souza Ligia L Mendonça Vitor R R VR Garcia Gabriela B C GB Brandão Ediele C EC Barral-Netto Manoel M

PloS one 20150724 7

<h4>Background</h4>Choosing a medical specialty is an important, complex, and not fully understood process. The present study investigated the factors that are related to choosing and rejecting medical specialties in a group of students and recent medical doctors.<h4>Methodology and findings</h4>A cross-sectional survey of 1,223 medical students and doctors was performed in Brazil in 2012. A standardized literature-based questionnaire was applied that gathered preferable or rejected specialties, ...[more]

PMID: 26208007

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Project description:ObjectiveTo investigate the determinants of specialty choice among graduating medical students in Spain, a country that entered into a severe, ongoing economic crisis in 2008.SettingSince 2008, the percentage of Spanish medical school graduates electing Family and Community Medicine (FCM) has experienced a reversal after more than a decade of decline.DesignA nationwide cross-sectional survey conducted online in April 2011.ParticipantsWe invited all students in their final year before graduation from each of Spain's 27 public and private medical schools to participate.Main outcome measuresRespondents' preferred specialty in relation to their perceptions of: (1) the probability of obtaining employment; (2) lifestyle and work hours; (3) recognition by patients; (4) prestige among colleagues; (5) opportunity for professional development; (6) annual remuneration and (7) the proportion of the physician's compensation from private practice.Results978 medical students (25% of the nationwide population of students in their final year) participated. Perceived job availability had the largest impact on specialty preference. Each 10% increment in the probability of obtaining employment increased the odds of preferring a specialty by 33.7% (95% CI 27.2% to 40.5%). Job availability was four times as important as compensation from private practice in determining specialty choice (95% CI 1.7 to 6.8). We observed considerable heterogeneity in the influence of lifestyle and work hours, with students who preferred such specialties as Cardiovascular Surgery and Obstetrics and Gynaecology valuing longer rather than shorter workdays.ConclusionsIn the midst of an ongoing economic crisis, job availability has assumed critical importance as a determinant of specialty preference among Spanish medical students. In view of the shortage of practitioners of FCM, public policies that take advantage of the enhanced perceived job availability of FCM may help steer medical school graduates into this specialty.

Dataset Information

Medical Specialty Choice and Related Factors of Brazilian Medical Students and Recent Doctors.

Background

Methodology and findings

Conclusion

Publications

Medical Specialty Choice and Related Factors of Brazilian Medical Students and Recent Doctors.

Similar Datasets

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