Professional choices are the product of both conscious and subconscious motivation. Many determining factors are involved, such as family influence, personal identification with the training course and the social status conferred by the profession. In addition to these factors, there are others of subconscious nature.1 It is possible that the fascination that medicine continues to hold for young people is not due solely to issues of a conscious nature. The image and the status that the title of physician confers, which was mainly achieved beginning in the nineteenth century, is likely to still be the strongest reason.2 The representation of the prestige and power of medicine, allied with the job market, in which there are difficulties but no unemployment, has the ability to place the profession as a symbol of social ascension.
2A study conducted among fifth-year medical students at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) showed that a majority of the students (55%) chose to study medicine because they identified with the profession (vocation or personal fulfillment). Altruistic motives and the search for knowledge reached 25% and 20%, respectively. Entering the job market was not indicated as an important factor in choosing a profession.
2A similar study among sixth-year medical students at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) identified the following as the main factors in choosing a career: (1) the possibility of financial independence; (2) personal identification with the profession; and (3) altruism. Entering the job market was not cited as a determining factor.