Medical Students’ Perspectives on Careers in Hospital Medicine: A National Study

Abstract

Purpose: Concerns over burnout and other factors may influence whether students pursue hospital medicine as a career. We investigate whether there are certain predictive factors that ultimately play a role in medical students' career interest in hospital medicine. Methods:In January 2011, 960 third-year medical students from 24 U.S. allopathic medical schools were surveyed at baseline, and six to nine months later when they became fourth-years at follow-up. Hospitalist-oriented students were categorized as those students who indicated interest in the specialties of family medicine, internal medicine, or pediatrics, and who indicated that they were "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to become a hospitalist. Respondents were also asked to respond to a list of seven factors that potentially influenced their specialty choice.Results: Adjusted response rate for the fourth-year survey was 50% (n=463/919). Medical students considering hospitalist careers were more likely to report that perceived burnout between various specialties played an important influential role in their specialty decisionmaking (49.7% [42.2-57.2%], vs. non-hospitalists 39.9% [32.8-47.0%], P=0.03).Conclusions: Given that students are reporting burnout as a factor in their decision-making in favor of hospitalist careers, further studies are needed to explore what aspects of a hospitalist career are appealing to students.