Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Canada.
Centre for Education Research & Innovation, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Canada.
BMC Med Educ. 2020 May 12;20(1):151. doi: 10.1186/s12909-020-02056-x.
While the importance of medical students' demographic characteristics in influencing the scope and location of their future practice is recognized, these data are not systematically collected in Canada. This study aimed to characterize and compare the demographics of Canadian medical students with the Canadian population.
Through an online survey, delivered in 2018, medical students at 14 English-speaking Canadian medical schools provided their age, sex, gender identity, ethnicity, educational background, and rurality of the area they grew up in. Respondents also provided information on parental income, occupation, and education as markers of socioeconomic status. Data were compared to the 2016 Canadian Census.
A total of 1388 students responded to the survey, representing a response rate of 16.6%. Most respondents identified as women (63.1%) and were born after 1989 (82.1%). Respondents were less likely, compared to the Canadian Census population, to identify as black (1.7% vs 6.4%) (P < 0.001) or Aboriginal (3.5% vs. 7.4%) (P < 0.001), and have grown up in a rural area (6.4% vs. 18.7%) (P < 0.001). Respondents had higher socioeconomic status, indicated by parental education (29.0% of respondents' parents had a master's or doctoral degree, compared to 6.6% of Canadians aged 45-64), occupation (59.7% of respondents' parents were high-level managers or professionals, compared to 19.2% of Canadians aged 45-64), and income (62.9% of respondents grew up in households with income >$100,000/year, compared to 32.4% of Canadians). Assessment of non-response bias showed that our sample was representative of all students at English-speaking Canadian medical schools with respect to age, though a higher proportion of respondents were female. Additionally, there were no differences between early and late respondents with respect to ethnicity, rurality, and parental income, occupation, and education.
Canadian medical students have different socioeconomic characteristics compared to the Canadian population. Collecting and analyzing these characteristics can inform evidence-based admissions policies.
尽管人们已经认识到医学生的人口统计学特征对其未来实践范围和地点的重要性，但在加拿大，这些数据并未系统收集。本研究旨在描述和比较加拿大医学生的人口统计学特征与加拿大人口的特征。
通过 2018 年的在线调查，14 所英语授课的加拿大医学院的医学生提供了他们的年龄、性别、性别认同、族裔、教育背景和成长地区的农村程度。受访者还提供了父母收入、职业和教育情况，作为社会经济地位的标志。数据与 2016 年加拿大人口普查进行了比较。
共有 1388 名学生对调查做出了回应，回应率为 16.6%。大多数受访者为女性（63.1%），出生于 1989 年后（82.1%）。与加拿大人口普查数据相比，受访者不太可能被认定为黑人（1.7%比 6.4%）（P<0.001）或原住民（3.5%比 7.4%）（P<0.001），且成长于农村地区的比例较低（6.4%比 18.7%）（P<0.001）。受访者的社会经济地位较高，表现为父母教育程度（29.0%的受访者的父母拥有硕士或博士学位，而 45-64 岁的加拿大人中这一比例为 6.6%）、职业（59.7%的受访者的父母为高级管理人员或专业人员，而 45-64 岁的加拿大人中这一比例为 19.2%）和收入（62.9%的受访者成长于年收入超过 100,000 加元的家庭，而 32.4%的加拿大人为这一收入水平）。非应答偏差评估表明，我们的样本在年龄方面代表了所有英语授课的加拿大医学院的学生，但女性比例较高。此外，在种族、农村程度以及父母收入、职业和教育方面，早期和晚期受访者之间没有差异。
与加拿大人口相比，加拿大医学生具有不同的社会经济特征。收集和分析这些特征可以为基于证据的招生政策提供信息。
