Determinants of choosing a career in family medicine

Student choice is an important determinant of the distribution of specialties of practising physicians in many countries. Understanding characteristics at entry into medical school that are associated with the choice of residency in family medicine can assist medical schools in admitting an appropri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Medical Association journal (CMAJ) 2011-01, Vol.183 (1), p.E1-E8
Main Authors: Scott, Ian, Gowans, Margot, Wright, Bruce, Brenneis, Fraser, Banner, Sandra, Boone, Jim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Attitude of Health Personnel
Canada
Career Choice
Distribution
Family physicians
Family Practice
Female
Humans
Internship and Residency
Life Style
Logistic Models
Male
Medical schools
Occupational choice
Physicians
Social aspects
Socioeconomic Factors
Studies
Supply and demand
Surveys
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult
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Summary:Student choice is an important determinant of the distribution of specialties of practising physicians in many countries. Understanding characteristics at entry into medical school that are associated with the choice of residency in family medicine can assist medical schools in admitting an appropriate mix of students to serve the health care needs of their regions. From 2002 to 2004, we collected data from students in 15 classes at 8 of 16 Canadian medical schools at entry. Surveys included questions on career choice, attitudes to practice and socio-demographic characteristics. We followed students prospectively with these data linked to their residency choice. We used multiple logistic regression analysis to identify entry characteristics that predicted a student's ultimate career choice in family medicine. Of 1941 eligible students in the participating classes, 1542 (79.4%) contributed data to the final analyses. The following 11 entry variables predicted whether a student named family medicine as his or her top residency choice: being older, being engaged or in a long-term relationship, not having parents with postgraduate university education nor having family or close friends practicing medicine, having undertaken voluntary work in a developing nation, not volunteering with elderly people, desire for varied scope of practice, a societal orientation, a lower interest in research, desire for short postgraduate training, and lower preference for medical versus social problems. Demographic and attitudinal characteristics at entry into medical school predicted whether students chose a career in family medicine.
ISSN:0820-3946
1488-2329
DOI:10.1503/cmaj.091805