Factors influencing the career preferences of medical students and interns: a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey from India

Abstract

Purpose: The study aimed to identify the motivational factors and demographic variables influencing the career preferences of medical students in India.Methods: We conducted a questionnaire-based survey at Christian Medical College, Vellore, India. The participants were 368 of the 460 medical students and interns enrolled at the institution from October 2015 to August 2016. We designed the questionnaire to collect demographic data, students’ preferences for career specialties, and the motivational factors influencing them. Then, we analyzed the influence of these factors and demographic variables on career preferences using regression analysis.Results: Of the 368 respondents, 356 (96.7%) expressed their intention to pursue a residency program after the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program, and about two-thirds indicated their preference to do so in India. The specialties most preferred by students were general surgery, general medicine (internal medicine), and pediatrics, while the least preferred were anatomy, obstetrics and gynecology, and community medicine. Factor analysis yielded three motivational factors, which we named ‘personal growth,’ ‘professional growth,’ and ‘personal satisfaction’ based on the items loaded in each. The motivational factors were predicted by demographic variables (gender, geographical background, current stage in the MBBS program, and the presence of relatives in the health professions). Demographic variables and the motivational factors also had significant influences on career preferences.Conclusion: This study provides insights into the motivational factors that influence the career preferences of Indian medical students and interns. A robust longitudinal study would be required to study intra-individual variations in preferences and the persistence of choices.

Factors influencing medical students’ choice of specialization: A gender based systematic review

“…2015 [24] Sudan (NO) QT 647 First to fifth year 73.0% 38.6% NA 11 Average Alenezi M. 2019 [25] Saudi Arabia (NO) QT 75 Interns NA 52.0% 24.49 (2.15) 11 Average Alkhaneen H. 2018 [26] Saudi Arabia (NO) QT 436 Second and third phases 53.4% 57.0% NA 12 Average AlKhilaiwi RM. 2018 [27] Saudi Arabia (NO) QT 236 Fifth and final year 78.7% 64.8% NA 11 Average Alshahrani M. 2014 [28] Saudi Arabia (NO) QT 379 Fourth, fifth and sixth year 58.0% 33.3% NA 12 Average Alsubaie N. 2016 [29] Saudi Arabia (NO) QT 252 Second and third year 81.8% 50.4% NA 14 Good Anand R. 2019 [30] India (NO) QT 364 Bachelor 79.1% 37.9% NA 13 Good Anna Muscatello MR. 2017 [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] [31] USA (O) QT 335 Forth year 93.0% 52.9% ...…”

Anticipated decrease in surgeons: does orthopedic internship affect medical students career choice?

“…The students'sex may have been a determinant in specialty preference (29). Orthopedic surgery has been reported to be one of the least preferred subspecialties of surgery among female students, (30) despite reports indicating that the total number of female medical students undertaking OIPs has increased (20,30).…”

A thematic network for factors affecting the choice of specialty education by medical students: a scoping study in low-and middle-income countries

“…A-1-Controllable lifestyle: a large number of the studies (69%) reported that controllable lifestyle is an important determinant of specialty selection by MS. Controllable lifestyle is related to working hours [30,44,52], having enough personal or leisure time [23,33,47], and life stability (including quality of life, and enjoyable life) [38,48,49]. A-2-Economic concerns: economic and financial concerns are among the highly discussed factors (N: 20, 69%) regarding the choice of specialty.…”

“…Eighteen studies (62.1%) referred to this factor as a key determinant of specialty choice. Prestige [36,50], work safety [33,47], career features (including job satisfaction and climate of working environment) [44,45], as well as Specialty characteristics (including content of specialty, and extent of interaction with other specialties) [45,46] are four dimensions of this factor. B-2-Future working conditions: future working conditions are among the most frequent determinants of specialty selection (N: 17, 58.6%).…”

“…This factor explains the particular features of a specialty as a career. These features include diversity of patients [36,42], extent of interaction with patients [43,50], existence and amount of on-call or emergency schedule [17,46], as well as Intellectual challenging field [33,47].…”