Perceptions on gender awareness and considerations in career choices of medical students in a medical school in Taiwan

Abstract

The trend of medical career choice in the younger generation has resulted in deficiency of manpower in the four major disciplines of internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, and pediatrics, which will threaten people's health care in Taiwan. However, perceptions of gender awareness and factors affecting the career choices of medical students have not been investigated systemically in Taiwan. To explore the perceptions on gender awareness and considerations in career choices, we recruited 280 1(st)- and 7(th)-year male and female medical students at a Medical University for the study. A modified Nijmegen questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale containing medical curricula (18 items), gender awareness (13 items), and career inclination (9 items) was adopted as the investigation tool in our study. The response rate was 75% (224/280). With regard to gender, the 1(st)-year male students had greater confidence in being a physician than the female students (p < 0.05), and female students subjectively suggested an advantage to communicate with patients or colleagues (p < 0.05). Faculty attitude in treating students differently by gender was more prominent in the 7(th)-year than in the 1(st)-year students (p < 0.001), and they felt male preceptors typically were more enthusiastic to teach and to rank higher grades to female than to male students; however, this was not observed among female preceptors. Both male and female students showed a low level of agreement that clinical skills and performance of a physician were significantly different by gender and "female physicians are more empathetic and provide more communications than male physicians". Factors influencing career choices of medical students, including "personal interests/talents" and "academic achievement of the specialty," were not significantly different by gender. Factors included "training and learning environments of the specialty", "risk of lawsuit", and "economic incentive" were more appreciated by the senior than the junior students (p < 0.05). Effect of "family" or "spouse" did not differ significantly regardless of gender or seniority. The 7(th)-year students had experiences in clinical medicine and had different considerations in career choice in comparison to the 1(st)-year students, and gender played a role in senior students. In addition, the senior rather than the junior students regarded "training and learning environments", "risk of lawsuit", and "economic incentive" as more important factors affecting the career choices, and male students paid more attention to these issues. Other factors such as fixed hours of duty with no emergency, easier lifestyle, and more time to take care his/her families were also important factors affecting career choice in medical students regardless of their gender; however, the junior students disclosed lower concern on the issues. In addition, four major misperceptions of gender and health issues were prevalent in the 7(th)-year students; therefore, we recognized the importance of integrating gender i...

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“…According to some previous studies, the learning environment has a huge impact on student motivation and decisions making and its associated with future outcomes (1) . A study in Taiwan that showed training and learning environment considered as factors influenced career choices of medical student especially in a 7th year (2) . Provide early guidance to medical students in their career future choice will give them reasonable comprehension of being a doctor, that may motivate and lead toward a field turns out to be much more obvious (12) .…”

“…(1) Also, there was another study in the Taiwan in 2013 among the first and seventh-year medical students and post-graduate students to figure out the specialty choices and briefly the factors that had influence in that. (2) Depending on the result, the personal interest and the academic achievements are listed in the highly impacting factors among the seventh-year medical students. (2) Beside these two studies, there was Nepal study in 2013 in six Nepal colleges among the residents, interns, first and sixth-year medical students.…”

“…(2) Depending on the result, the personal interest and the academic achievements are listed in the highly impacting factors among the seventh-year medical students. (2) Beside these two studies, there was Nepal study in 2013 in six Nepal colleges among the residents, interns, first and sixth-year medical students. (3) The most common cause after serving the sick was personal interest, while the fourth cause was the best course available in the university.…”

Gendered health care labour markets? A case study of anatomical pathologists and haematologists in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

“…This is an indication that there are numerous factors that attract male and female specialists differently. In other words, there are variances in the specialities that attract males and females (Chung et al 2013;Eze et al 2011). The additional factors that influence the choice of medical specialisation have been classified as personal interest, career prospects, lifestyle, job security, appraisal of own skills, hours of practice, scope and the influence of parents/family (Bhat et al 2012;Correia Lima de Souza et al 2015;Eze et al 2011;Gour et al 2011;Van Tongeren-Alers et al 2013).…”

“…Specialisations can be selected based on individual characteristics, personal interests as well as talents (Chung et al 2013;Correia Lima de Souza et al 2015;Eze et al 2011). Some participants were of the view that choice of specialisation was unrelated to gender and had more to do with personal choice.…”