XTRA study protocol: eXploring medical sTudents’ caReer reAdiness—a cross-sectional study in the UK

Abstract

Background and objectives Professional and career enhancing opportunities are essential for developing skills required for a successful career in medicine. Research to date has mainly focused on the extent to which medical schools prepare students for clinical work as junior doctors. However, there remains a need to ascertain how students prepare for their career and what facilitates or hinders learning regarding careers in medicine. The purpose of the XTRA study is to examine career readiness of medical students at UK universities and the support they receive during their studies regarding career planning. Methods The eXploring medical sTudents’ caReer reAdiness (XTRA) study is a national cross-sectional study of all medical students enrolled at a UK medical school. Data collection will occur via a secure online survey designed as a training need analysis based on the principles of Super’s theory (Super, 1953) of career development. A snowball sampling strategy will be used to recruit participants via social media and networks. Results will be analysed using quantitative analysis and thematic analysis to identify themes in qualitative responses. The primary outcome is to understand the perspective of current medical students on how well prepared they are about entering their careers in healthcare. Conclusions We anticipate that findings from this study will help identify career readiness of medical students to facilitate the development of career development programmes and resources to ensure medical students are well equipped for their future careers.

Construction and validation of a medical career readiness inventory

“…A 26-item online questionnaire split into two parts was formed using after two iterations of content validation. 10 Part 1 asks for demographics and part 2 consists of 2 items based on Super's theory 11 designed to tap into Crystallisation (n = 5), Specification (n = 6) and Implementation (n = 9). For the Crystallisation and Specification, participants were required to indicate their agreement with 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.…”

“…Several modifications were made, such as rewording and inclusion of additional items. A 26‐item online questionnaire split into two parts was formed using after two iterations of content validation 10 . Part 1 asks for demographics and part 2 consists of 2 items based on Super's theory 11 designed to tap into Crystallisation (n = 5), Specification (n = 6) and Implementation (n = 9).…”