Baldwin Alphonso, Agho Augustine O
School of Allied Health Sciences, Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, Florida 32307-3500, USA.
J Allied Health. 2003 Summer;32(2):65-70.
As a part of a larger study on recruitment and marketing strategies adopted by allied health programs, this article examines the effect of initial source of information about allied health career opportunities on students' decisions to select and enroll in allied health programs. Using data obtained from 1,809 students currently enrolled in six allied health disciplines, this investigation revealed that allied health students receive career information from various sources. Practicing health professionals are the most effective initial source of information for prospective allied health students. Prospective students are more inclined to enroll in allied health educational programs if they are encouraged to do so by a practitioner. Also, it was observed that 1) most students decide about their career interest at an early age; 2) their first-degree interest is not always the one they eventually pursue in college; and 3) the effect of initial source of information on enrollment decision varied by discipline. Contrary to a widely held assumption, only two groups of students (physical therapy and dental hygiene) identified high school counselors as an important source of initial information about allied health educational programs.
作为对联合健康项目所采用的招生与营销策略进行的一项更大型研究的一部分，本文考察了联合健康职业机会的初始信息来源对学生选择并就读联合健康项目的决策的影响。利用从目前就读于六个联合健康学科的1809名学生那里获得的数据，这项调查显示，联合健康专业的学生从各种来源获取职业信息。在职健康专业人员是未来联合健康专业学生最有效的初始信息来源。如果有从业者鼓励，未来的学生更倾向于就读联合健康教育项目。此外，研究还发现：1）大多数学生在早年就决定了自己的职业兴趣；2）他们最初感兴趣的专业并不总是他们最终在大学所追求的专业；3）初始信息来源对入学决策的影响因学科而异。与一种广泛持有的假设相反，只有两组学生（物理治疗和口腔卫生专业）将高中辅导员视为联合健康教育项目初始信息的重要来源。
