Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA.
Ann Surg. 2012 Aug;256(2):378-86. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0b013e3182602b9b.
The aim of this multinational study was to measure and describe the perceptions of medical students toward general surgery as a career choice with a particular emphasis on "lifestyle."
Past studies from individual countries have considered the perceptions of medical students toward general surgery. No multinational study to compare the perceptions of medical students from different geographic and socioeconomic regions toward general surgery, has been broadly disseminated.
A survey about student perceptions of a general surgery career was distributed to 9 medical schools in 8 countries. Two-way analysis of variance was performed on the basis of country, level of economic development [Human Development Index (HDI)], and sex.
A total of 841 respondents were included in the study with a response rate of 60%. The overall rate of interest toward general surgery as a career choice was 24%. We noted differences in the reasons behind why medical students choose general surgery between very high HDI countries and medium/high HDI countries. In contrast, the most important reason for not choosing general surgery was found to be due to perceptions of an unpleasant lifestyle. The negative influence of "lifestyle" persisted across all countries, both sexes, and all levels of socioeconomic development.
The negative influence of lifestyle is the most important reason why contemporary medical students from different parts of the world choose not to pursue general surgery. Strategies to counteract the perceived unfriendly nature of the lifestyle are essential to increase the interest of contemporary medical students toward general surgery.
这项多国家研究旨在衡量和描述医学生对普外科作为职业选择的看法，特别强调“生活方式”。
来自个别国家的既往研究已经考虑了医学生对普外科的看法。尚未广泛传播过比较来自不同地理和社会经济区域的医学生对普外科看法的多国家研究。
向 8 个国家的 9 所医学院校分发了一份关于学生对普外科职业看法的调查。根据国家、经济发展水平（人类发展指数 [HDI]）和性别进行了双因素方差分析。
共有 841 名受访者参与了这项研究，回应率为 60%。对普外科作为职业选择感兴趣的总体比例为 24%。我们注意到，在非常高的 HDI 国家和中/高 HDI 国家之间，医学生选择普外科的原因存在差异。相比之下，选择普外科的主要原因是由于对不愉快的生活方式的看法。这种对“生活方式”的负面影响在所有国家、性别和社会经济发展水平中都存在。
生活方式的负面影响是当代世界各地医学生选择不从事普外科的最重要原因。对抗感知到的生活方式不友好性质的策略对于提高当代医学生对普外科的兴趣至关重要。
