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Factors Influencing US Allopathic Medical Students to Choose Pathology as a Specialty.

ABSTRACT: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has highlighted the crucial role of pathologists in the health care system at a time of significant decline in the number of US medical students matching to pathology residency positions. To understand this decline, a national survey of fourth-year US allopathic medical students was conducted to assess experiences, knowledge, and attitudes of pathology and factors that impact specialty choice. Participating in a separate pathology course did not increase the probability of choosing pathology. Experiences significantly associated with choosing pathology included clinical or research opportunities in pathology during the last 2 years of medical school, autopsy observation/participation, and participation in pathology interest groups. Many respondents felt they were not sufficiently exposed to pathology to consider it as a specialty. Those who considered pathology but did not choose it were less likely to report understanding the activities of pathologists and being recruited by pathology faculty and more likely to express a preference for more direct patient contact as compared to those entering pathology. In general, respondents agreed that pathology has a good work-life balance and a satisfying degree of intellectual challenge. On the other hand, respondents generally agreed that information on social media and perception of the pathology job market do not seem to be positive and few agreed that pathology is a highly regarded specialty. We identify steps to address these issues and increase the number of US medical students choosing pathology as a specialty crucial to the future of medicine and public health.

SUBMITTER: McCloskey CB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7557358 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Factors Influencing US Allopathic Medical Students to Choose Pathology as a Specialty.

McCloskey Cindy B CB Johnson Kristen K Brissette Mark M Conran Richard R Childs John J George Melissa M Gratzinger Dita D Prieto Victor G VG Rojiani Amyn M AM Shyu Irene I Timmons Charles C Hoffman Robert R

Academic pathology 20200101

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has highlighted the crucial role of pathologists in the health care system at a time of significant decline in the number of US medical students matching to pathology residency positions. To understand this decline, a national survey of fourth-year US allopathic medical students was conducted to assess experiences, knowledge, and attitudes of pathology and factors that impact specialty choice. Participating in a separate pathology course did not increase the probability o ...[more]

PMID: 33110939

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Project description:BackgroundChoosing 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 findingsA 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, χ(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).ConclusionThe present findings provide important insights into developing strategies to stimulate interest in specialties based on the needs of the Brazilian healthcare system.

Project description:BackgroundA much higher prevalence of alexithymia has been reported in medical students compared with the general population, and alexithymia is a risk factor that increases vulnerability to mental disorders. Our aim was to evaluate the level of alexithymia in Chinese medical students and to explore its influencing factors.MethodsA cross-sectional study of 1,950 medical students at Shenyang Medical College was conducted in May 2014 to evaluate alexithymia in medical students using the Chinese version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed by Cronbach's ? coefficient and mean inter-item correlations. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate construct validity. The relationships between alexithymia and influencing factors were examined using Student's t-test, analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 21.0.ResultsOf the 1,950 medical students, 1,886 (96.7%) completed questionnaires. Overall, Cronbach's ? coefficient of the TAS-20 questionnaire was 0.868. The results of CFA showed that the original three-factor structure produced an acceptable fit to the data. By univariate analysis, gender, grade (academic year of study), smoking behavior, alcohol use, physical activity, history of living with parents during childhood, and childhood trauma were influencing factors of TAS-20 scores (p?<?0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that gender, physical activity, grade, living with parents, and childhood trauma also had statistically significant association with total TAS-20 score (p?<?0.05).ConclusionsGender, physical activity, grade, history of living with parents during childhood, and childhood trauma were all factors determining the level of alexithymia. To prevent alexithymia, it will be advisable to promote adequate physical activity and pay greater attention to male medical students and those who are in the final year of training.

Project description:ObjectiveTo characterise the contributing factors that affect medical students' subspecialty choice and to estimate the extent of influence of individual factors on the students' decision-making process.DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.MethodsA systematic search of the Cochrane Library, ERIC, Web of Science, CNKI and PubMed databases was conducted for studies published between January 1977 and June 2018. Information concerning study characteristics, influential factors and the extent of their influence (EOI) was extracted independently by two trained investigators. EOI is the percentage level that describes how much each of the factors influenced students' choice of subspecialty. The recruited medical students include students in medical school, internship, residency training and fellowship, who are about to or have just made a specialty choice. The estimates were pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis model due to the between-study heterogeneity.ResultsData were extracted from 75 studies (882 209 individuals). Overall, the factors influencing medical students' choice of subspecialty training mainly included academic interests (75.29%), competencies (55.15%), controllable lifestyles or flexible work schedules (53.00%), patient service orientation (50.04%), medical teachers or mentors (46.93%), career opportunities (44.00%), workload or working hours (37.99%), income (34.70%), length of training (32.30%), prestige (31.17%), advice from others (28.24%) and student debt (15.33%), with significant between-study heterogeneity (p<0.0001). Subgroup analyses revealed that the EOI of academic interests was higher in developed countries than that in developing countries (79.66% [95% CI 70.73% to 86.39%] vs 60.41% [95% CI 43.44% to 75.19%]; Q=3.51, p=0.02). The EOI value of prestige was lower in developed countries than that in developing countries (23.96% [95% CI 19.20% to 29.47%] vs 47.65% [95% CI 34.41% to 61.24%]; Q=4.71, p=0.01).ConclusionsThis systematic review and meta-analysis provided a quantitative evaluation of the top 12 influencing factors associated with medical students' choice of subspecialty. Our findings provide the basis for the development of specific, effective strategies to optimise the distribution of physicians among different departments by modifying these influencing factors.

Project description:IntroductionThe career intentions of medical students can exert influence on service provision and medical staffing in the health services. It is vital for a specialty's development and sustainability that it has a constant stream of trainees into it annually. An appreciation of how a specialty is viewed by medical students can be used as an opportunity for early intervention in order to improve perception of the specialty and reduce future workforce problems, such as retention and attrition within obstetrics and gynaecology (O&G). We aimed to analyse positive and negative factors of the specialty of O&G as perceived by medical students in order to gain insight into changes that need to be made to improve recruitment and retention into the specialty.MethodsA 70-item structured questionnaire consisting of demographic information and 5-point Likert scale questions relating to O&G was administered to final year medical students in the Republic of Ireland. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics, logistic regression, and odds ratios as appropriate.ResultsOf 195 medical students approached, 134 completed the questionnaire, a response rate of 68.7%. The majority were female (55.2%, n = 74) and 76.1% of respondents (n = 102) were Direct Entry Medicine students, with the remainder Graduate Entry Medicine students. 30.8% (n = 41) of students who responded scored 6 or more on a 10-point Likert scale when asked about their likelihood of considering a career in O&G. Students' clerkship experience factored heavily into their perception of the specialty and was more likely to be positive if they experienced direct consultant engagement and the opportunity for hands-on experience. Lifestyle factors, litigation and media were found to be deterrents to considering the specialty after graduation.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates the importance of good clerkship experience in fostering an interest amongst undergraduates in O&G. Educators and those working within the specialty should showcase the strengths of the specialty during undergraduate education, and work on ameliorating deterrents to ultimately provide a structured approach to improving recruitment into O&G.

Dataset Information

Factors Influencing US Allopathic Medical Students to Choose Pathology as a Specialty.

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Factors Influencing US Allopathic Medical Students to Choose Pathology as a Specialty.

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