First Department of Surgery, University of Athens, Laiko General Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Surgery. 2010 Sep;148(3):510-5. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2010.01.013. Epub 2010 Mar 11.
A decline of medical students' interest in a general surgery career is occurring in the Western medical world. We sought data on the mentality of Greek students toward specialty selection, and we determined whether trends indicated a decline in interest for general surgery in Greece.
A structured questionnaire was distributed to 3 groups of medical students: to pre-4th-year (group 1) surgical clerkship, post-4th-year (group 2) surgical clerkship, and post-6th-year internship students in surgery (group 3). The questions covered a wide spectrum of data including career choices, influential factors, and satisfaction rates on educational and training issues.
From a total of 500 distributed questionnaires 363 were returned. Most students (63.1%) indicated preference toward nonsurgical (medical) specialties. Surgical specialties within the 3 groups gathered 19.5% (group 1), 26.5% (group 2) and 31.2% (group 3) preference rates. Among surgical specialties, general surgery was chosen by 29.4% in group 1, 10.0% in group 2, and 17.9% in group 3. The most common criterion for specialty selection was "quality of life" (68.6%) among group 1 students and "patient contact" for group 2 and group 3 students (77.3% and 65.3%, respectively). Among the 96 students who chose surgical specialties, the most common criterion for specialty selection was "scientific challenge" (100%) in group 1 and "patient contact" in groups 2 and 3 (62.5% and 69.2%, respectively). The 3 more frequently chosen factors that influenced the "picture" of surgery positively were attending live surgery cases in the operating room (37.6%), clinical experience (29.6%), and patient care (14.4%), followed by assisting in the operating room (8.8%).
Our survey suggests a limited interest of Greek medical students for surgical specialties and general surgery in particular. As the medical curriculum is restructured, our data underscore the need for actions by surgical educators and medical school authorities so as to enhance the interest of medical students in general surgery in Greece.
在西方医学领域，医学生对普通外科职业的兴趣正在下降。我们收集了希腊学生对专业选择的心态数据，并确定了希腊普通外科职业兴趣下降的趋势。
我们向三组医学生发放了一份结构式问卷：预 4 年级（第 1 组）外科实习前、4 年级后（第 2 组）和 6 年级后（第 3 组）实习外科学生。问题涵盖了广泛的数据，包括职业选择、影响因素以及对教育和培训问题的满意度。
在总共发放的 500 份问卷中，有 363 份被收回。大多数学生（63.1%）表示倾向于非外科（内科）专业。三组学生中选择外科专业的比例分别为 19.5%（第 1 组）、26.5%（第 2 组）和 31.2%（第 3 组）。在外科专业中，第 1 组选择普通外科的比例为 29.4%，第 2 组为 10.0%，第 3 组为 17.9%。选择专业的最常见标准是第 1 组学生的“生活质量”（68.6%）和第 2 组和第 3 组学生的“医患接触”（分别为 77.3%和 65.3%）。在选择外科专业的 96 名学生中，第 1 组选择专业的最常见标准是“科学挑战”（100%），第 2 组和第 3 组的标准是“医患接触”（分别为 62.5%和 69.2%）。对手术“形象”有积极影响的三个更常被选择的因素是在手术室观看现场手术（37.6%）、临床经验（29.6%）和患者护理（14.4%），其次是在手术室协助（8.8%）。
我们的调查表明，希腊医学生对外科专业，特别是普通外科的兴趣有限。随着医学课程的重组，我们的数据强调了外科教育者和医学院当局采取行动的必要性，以增强希腊医学生对普通外科的兴趣。
