Graduate Entry Medical School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
Ir J Med Sci. 2013 Sep;182(3):337-43. doi: 10.1007/s11845-012-0882-x. Epub 2012 Dec 15.
The national junior doctor recruitment crisis prompts an appraisal of medical student attitudes to different career pathways. The purpose of this study was to perform a national review of surgical career intentions of Irish final year medical students.
Ethical and institutional approval was obtained at each study location. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to final year students. Domains assessed included demographics, career plans and reasons associated. Anonymised responses were collated and evaluated. Categorical data were compared with Fisher's exact test.
Responses were obtained from 342 students in four medical schools of whom 78.6% were undergraduates. Over half (53%) were Irish, with Malaysia, Canada and the USA the next most common countries of origin. Only 18% of students intended to pursue surgery, with 60% stating they did not plan to, and 22% undecided. Of those who plan not to pursue surgery, 28% were unsure about a speciality but the most common choices were medicine (39%), general practice (16%) and paediatrics (8%). Reasons for not picking a career in surgery included long hours and the unstructured career path. Suggestions to improve uptake included earlier and more practical exposure to surgery, improved teaching/training and reduction in working hours.
In this study 18% of final year medical students identified surgery as their chosen career pathway. Although lifestyle factors are significant in many students' decision, perceived quality and duration of surgical training were also relevant and are modifiable factors which, if improved could increase interest in surgery as a career.
全国初级医生招聘危机促使人们对医学生对不同职业道路的态度进行评估。本研究的目的是对爱尔兰医学应届毕业生的外科职业意向进行全国性评估。
在每个研究地点都获得了伦理和机构批准。设计并向应届毕业生分发了一份问卷。评估的领域包括人口统计学、职业计划和相关原因。对匿名回复进行了整理和评估。使用 Fisher 确切检验比较了分类数据。
从四所医学院的 342 名学生中获得了回复，其中 78.6%是本科生。超过一半（53%）是爱尔兰人，其次是马来西亚、加拿大和美国。只有 18%的学生打算从事外科工作，60%表示不打算从事，22%尚未决定。在那些不打算从事外科手术的人中，28%对专业不确定，但最常见的选择是医学（39%）、普通科（16%）和儿科（8%）。选择不从事外科手术的原因包括工作时间长和职业道路不规范。建议通过更早和更实际的手术接触、改进教学/培训和减少工作时间来提高吸收率。
在这项研究中，18%的医学应届毕业生将外科确定为他们选择的职业道路。尽管生活方式因素在许多学生的决定中很重要，但感知到的外科培训质量和持续时间也是相关的，并且是可以改进的因素，如果得到改善，可能会增加对外科职业的兴趣。
