Study about factors that influenced Medical school graduates on their future careers

ABSTRACT

Introduction:

Advances in medicine have triggered a significant increase in the degree of specialization of doctors. However, despite the growing demand for doctors to specialize, there is a shortage of professionals in certain areas, urging the need to understand the factors and barriers that influence medical students’ decision-making about their future careers. Such decisions are subject to countless reflections and the topic has been extensively discussed worldwide.

Objective:

This research aimed to study the main factors and motivations that led sixth-year students at Medical Sciences College of the Metropolitan University of Santos (UNIMES,2023) to choose their medical specialty.

Method:

This is a cross-sectional, observational study with a quantitative approach. Non-parametric statistical analysis was performed using the R language version 4.2.3 and Fisher’s exact test was used on hypotheses. Of the 106 enrolled students, only 90 voluntarily participated in the study.

Result:

Of the participants, 57 identified as female and 33 as male, with the majority aged between 23 and 26 years. The most desired large medical area was General Internal Medicine (35.6%), followed by Surgery (23.2%), Gynecology and Obstetrics (22.2%), Pediatrics (11.1%), the latter two being favored primarily by women. Prominent among the specialties mentioned was Anesthesiology (13.3%). The main influencing factors and motivations were: “quality of life and financial return” (55.6%) and “presence of teaching staff at the internship” (53.3%), however, with no statistically significance for the chosen specialties. The area of the General Internal Medicine was correlated statistically with “Offers more comprehensive involvement with the patient, allowing better care, in addition to outpatient practice” while Surgery and GO correlated with “Practice of invasive procedures and emergency care, and predominance of hospital practice”. Thirty percent of the graduates changed their minds during undergraduate training and 32.3% intend to work as general practitioners and specialize at a later stage in their career.

Conclusion:

This study demonstrates how several factors within undergraduate training have a direct influence on students’ choice of medical career. Further studies are needed, as well as academic counseling strategies, in order to clarify the possible opportunities for each medical area.

Keywords:
Medical Education; Medical Specialties; Career Choice; Medical Students