Unit of General Practice, Kuopio University Hospital, Asemakatu 44 A 4, 70110 Kuopio, Finland.
Med Teach. 2011;33(8):e440-5. doi: 10.3109/0142159X.2011.586744.
Choosing a medical specialty is an important element predefining a physician's career and life. Although there has been some research in this area of interest, there has not been much research where the profession has been researched as a whole, or where trend data over different generations has been presented.
The aim of our study was to ascertain the motives affecting physicians' choice of a medical specialty.
The study cohort comprised random sample of 7758 doctors who were registered in Finland during the years 1977-2006. Altogether 4167 questionnaires were returned, giving a response rate of 54%. An electronic questionnaire was used in data collection, supported by a traditional postal questionnaire.
Of the respondents, 76% thought the diversity of the field had affected their choices of specialty considerably or very much. For physicians under 35 years old, especially the good example set by colleagues (48%), and opportunities for career development (39%) were more important motives compared to those of older physicians.
According to this study, diversity of the work is the main motivating factor affecting physicians' choices of specialty. Especially, younger physicians follow the example set by more experienced colleagues.
选择医学专业是预先定义医生职业和生活的重要因素。尽管已经有一些关于这方面的研究，但对于整个职业的研究或不同代际的趋势数据的研究还不多。
我们的研究旨在确定影响医生选择医学专业的动机。
研究队列包括在 1977 年至 2006 年期间在芬兰注册的随机抽取的 7758 名医生。共收回 4167 份问卷，应答率为 54%。使用电子问卷进行数据收集，并辅以传统的邮寄问卷。
在受访者中，76%的人认为该领域的多样性对他们的专业选择有相当大或非常大的影响。对于 35 岁以下的医生来说，同事树立的良好榜样（48%）和职业发展机会（39%）比年长医生更为重要的动机。
根据这项研究，工作的多样性是影响医生选择专业的主要动机因素。特别是年轻医生会效仿更有经验的同事。
