BackgroundThe choice of medical specialty is related to multiple factors, students’ values, and specialty perceptions. Research in this area is needed in low- and middle-income countries, where the alignment of specialty training with national healthcare needs has a complex local interdependency. The study aimed to identify factors that influence specialty choice among medical students.MethodsSenior students at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) Faculty of Medicine answered a questionnaire covering demographics, personal experiences, vocational features, and other factors related to specialty choice. Chi-square tests and factor analyses were performed.ResultsThe questionnaire was applied to 714 fifth-year students, and 697 provided complete responses (response rate 81%). The instrument Cronbach’s alpha was 0.8. The mean age was 24 ± 1 years; 65% were women. Eighty percent of the students wanted to specialize, and 60% had participated in congresses related to the specialty of interest. Only 5% wanted to remain as general practitioners. The majority (80%) wanted to enter a core specialty: internal medicine (29%), general surgery (24%), pediatrics (11%), gynecology and obstetrics (11%) and family medicine (4%). The relevant variables for specialty choice were grouped in three dimensions: personal values that develop and change during undergraduate training, career needs to be satisfied, and perception of specialty characteristics.ConclusionsSpecialty choice of medical students in a middle-income country public university is influenced by the undergraduate experience, the desire to study a subspecialty and other factors (including having skills related to the specialty and type of patients).
Objective. To identify medical school characteristics associated with performance in a medical residency admission test. Materials and methods. Performance and selection rates according to type of medical school (Student´s t-test, Chi-squared test), accreditation status (Student´s t-test) and geographic regions (Anova) were analyzed from a database comprising 153 654 physicians who took the residency admission test Examen Nacional de Aspirantes a Residencias Médicas (ENARM) in the period 2014-2018. Results. Performance was 62.5% for accredited programs and 61.4% for non-accredited programs (p<0.001); public schools reached 62.3% and private schools 62.2% (p<0.001). Northern regions performed above 63% while South-Southeast at 58.9% (p<0.001). Selection rate was 26.2% for accredited programs and 22.9% for non-accredited (p<0.001); 26.6% for public schools and 23.6% for private schools (p<0.001). North-East and North-West reached 31% while South-Southeast 20.7%. Conclusions. Type of school, accreditation status and geographic region may influence performance and selection rate.
En nuestro medio son escasos los estudios de seguimiento académico que permiten relacionar el grado de conocimientos de los estudiantes, al inicio de la licenciatura y mediante los resultados obtenidos en un examen diagnóstico, con el desempeño escolar a lo largo del grado y la eficiencia terminal. Mediante los resultados obtenidos en el examen diagnóstico de ingreso a la licenciatura y el seguimiento del desempeño escolar de los estudiantes de la generación 2010 en la UNAM, se desarrolló un modelo predictivo. Los resultados revelan que a mayor puntuación obtenida en el examen diagnóstico de conocimientos al ingreso a la licenciatura, mejor desempeño escolar durante la misma y mayor eficiencia terminal.
IntroductionPerformance and selection rate of non-newly graduated physicians in a medical residency admission test as an indicator for the need of continuing education.MethodsA database comprising 153 654 physicians who took a residency admission test in the period 2014–2018 was analysed. Performance and selection rates were assessed in relation to year of graduation and performance in medical school.ResultsThe whole sample scored at a mean of 62.3 (SD ±8.9; range 1.11–91.11). Examinees who took the test in their year of graduation performed better (66.10) than those who took the test after their year of graduation (61.84); p<0.001.Selection rates differed accordingly; 33.9% for newly graduated physicians compared with 24.8% in those who took the test at least 1 year after graduation; p<0.001. An association between selection test performance and medical school grades was established using Pearson’s correlation: r=0.40 for newly graduated physicians and r=0.30 for non-newly graduated physicians. There were statistically significant differences in selection rates for every ranking group of grades in medical school based on the χ2 test (p<0.001). The selection rates are decreased years after graduation even for candidates with high grades in medical school.DiscussionThere is an association between performance in a medical residency admission test and academic variables of the candidates: medical school grades and time elapsed from graduation to test taking. The evidence of decrease in retention of medical knowledge since graduation highlights the pertinence of continuing education interventions.
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