Toward a Typology of Public Health Careers

Specialty choice of medical students in India

“…Understanding the attitudes of medical students has become an important component of research in medical education since the publication of The Student Physician (Merton et al 1957) and Boys in White (Becker et al 1961). There have been many studies in this area, some of which have focused on medical students’ attitudes towards medical specialties (Bruhn & Parsons 1964; Coker et al 1966; Miller et al 1966; Last & Stanley 1968; Ramalingaswami & Neki 1971; Anderson 1975; Matteson & Smith 1977; Ramalingaswami 1980; Bhargava 1983; Konefal & Provenzo 1983).…”

Students' preference of specialties in an Indian medical college

“…Since the publication of the famous studies by Merton, Reader, and Kendall (1957) and Becker, Geer, Hughes, and Strauss (1961), a number of investigations on the sociological aspects of medical education have been reported. Some of these have focused mainly on the medical students' attitude towards medical specialties (Bruhn and Parsons, 1964; Coker, Kosa, and Back, 1966; Miller, Coker, Greenberg, and McConnell, 1966). There have been reports on the personality characteristics of students choosing different types of medical careers by Schumacher (1964), and Coker, Greenberg, and Kosa (1965), and on the role of religion in curricular preference by Kosa (1969).…”

New approach to the prediction of medical specialization: Student-based Strong Vocational Interest Blank scales.

“…Although there has been little specific study of career satisfaction among medical specialists, there is anecdotal and indirect evidence that dissatisfaction with specialty choice may also be an important problem. Significant numbers of specialists in some fields (e.g., Athelstan, 1968;Miller, Coker, Greenberg, & McConnell, 1966) either report deep dissatisfaction or demonstrate it by changing specialties.…”