“It’s Every Family’s Dream”: Choice of a Medical Career Among the Arab Minority in Israel

Abstract

Application to medical studies and the choice of medicine as a career are influenced by many factors, some internal (academic ability, intellectual curiosity, interests) and some external (parental pressure, peer pressure, teacher and school expectations). Ethnicity plays a role in motivational orientation and belonging to an ethnic minority group may influence both internal and external motives and priorities in choosing medicine as a career. In this article, we present a qualitative study of the motives that impel Arab physicians in Israel to choose a medical career. As a theoretical framework, we apply self-determination theory (SDT) (Ryan and Deci in Am Psychol 55:68-78, 2000), consisting of three principal categories situated along a continuum: Amotivation, extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation. We show that extrinsic motivation is dominant among Arab physicians in Israel, demonstrating specifically the unique political context and cultural characteristics of Arab society in Israel. These findings, and the attention to the unique motivations of people from different ethnic minority groups who choose medical career, may increase the number of physicians from minority groups, a step known to decrease health gaps in multi-cultural contexts.

An Investigation of the Intention and Reasons of Senior High School Students in China to Enter into Medical School

“…Medicine appears to be a social and economic mobility path for families, so in previous studies, family expectations were considered an important motivation for choosing medicine. [29][30][31] This also agrees with our ndings: the greater the support from family members, the more likely students are to learn clinical medicine.…”

Examining the Use of Planned Happenstance With Students of Korean Cultural Backgrounds in the United States

“…This finding suggests that planned happenstance may help explain why intrinsic work values are associated with the career networking of students of Korean cultural backgrounds. For a student of a minority cultural background, having dominant intrinsic, rather than extrinsic, work values may mean that the student is more open to exploring occupations that meet his or her career values rather than choosing a career based on familial preferences (Popper-Giveon & Keshet, 2016). This may also mean that international students with higher intrinsic work values have more confidence in their labor-market prospects than those with dominant extrinsic values (Ng & Sears, 2010).…”

The Secret Drama at the Patient’s Bedside—Refusal of Treatment Because of the Practitioner’s Ethnic Identity: The Medical Staff ’s Point of View

“…Health care professions, such as medicine and nursing, appear to be a path toward social and economic mobility for Israel's Arab minority. Medicine, in particular, yields respected social status in local Arab society (Popper-Giveon & Keshet, 2016). Health-related professions enable Arab practitioners to leave their ethnic enclaves and integrate into Jewish-dominated Israeli society.…”

“…Health-related professions enable Arab practitioners to leave their ethnic enclaves and integrate into Jewish-dominated Israeli society. As Israel suffers a shortage of health care personnel, these are desirable professions that guarantee their practitioners a steady income and considerable job security (Popper-Giveon & Keshet, 2016).…”