Factors associated with specialty choice in Chinese medical students and residents: an exploratory cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Specialty maldistribution stemming from a lack of preference for certain specialties can substantially impact a country's health-care system. Promoting primary care or addressing the shortages of certain specialties needs a better understanding of the underlying motives that might encourage or discourage medical students to choose certain specialties. We aimed to explore the predominant factors that influence specialty choice in China's medical students and physicians through a nationwide survey. Methods From 2016 to 2017, an electronic survey was distributed to medical students and physicians across all seven administrative regions of China. We used validated instruments including the Job Contentment Questionnaire, the Professionalism Assessment Scale, the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptom Inventory, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the General Health Questionnaire (Chinese version), and a modified Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Ethical approval was obtained by the institutional review board of the principal investigator's institution.