Department of Physiology, School of Basic Medicine, Xuzhou Medical University, No.209 of Tongshan Road, Xuzhou, 221004, Jiangsu, China.
School of Public Affairs & Governance, Silliman University, Dumaguete, Philippines.
BMC Med Educ. 2021 Sep 9;21(1):484. doi: 10.1186/s12909-021-02922-2.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has led to increased workload and infection risks among medical staff. This situation may influence current medical and health-related students' decision on the choices of their future careers. Hence, this study investigated the impact of COVID-19 on their future career intentions.
This is a cross-sectional observational study that included medical and health-related students from three universities between October 2020 and January 2021. The study questionnaire was divided into two main sections: Section 1, which comprised students' basic information. And section 2 focused mainly on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on students' professional intentions. The chi-squared χ test was used to compare the responses before and after the pandemic outbreak among Chinese and non-Chinese students.
In overall, 1253 students completed the questionnaires. The responses showed that the number of students who preferred clinical medicine, public health, pharmacy and oral medicine increased significantly after the pandemic outbreak. In contrast, the number of students who chose nursing and medical technology decreased significantly. The change mainly occurred in Chinese students, predominantly females. Half of students (50.35%) were more willing to engage in medical and health work after completing their current program. Also, 36.39% of students felt that knowledge was too limited in the pandemic's face and would like to continue studying after graduation to gain more knowledge. Due to the pandemic, 34.18% of students would like a future workplace near their hometown, and 19.63% preferred to work in urban areas.
The COVID-19 outbreak impacted current medical and health-related students' career planning on their future workplaces and employment time choices. Additionally, the pandemic influenced the intention of Chinese students in choosing their future careers. This study provided the basis for the policymaking, specialty setting of colleges and supplied the medical health department's talent reserve information.
COVID-19 的爆发增加了医务人员的工作量和感染风险。这种情况可能会影响当前医学和卫生相关专业学生对未来职业选择的决策。因此，本研究调查了 COVID-19 对他们未来职业意向的影响。
这是一项横断面观察性研究，包括三所大学的医学和卫生相关专业学生，研究时间为 2020 年 10 月至 2021 年 1 月。研究问卷分为两大部分：第一部分包括学生的基本信息。第二部分主要关注 COVID-19 大流行对学生专业意向的影响。采用卡方检验比较大流行前后中国学生和非中国学生的反应。
共有 1253 名学生完成了问卷。结果表明，大流行后，选择临床医学、公共卫生、药学和口腔医学的学生人数显著增加。相比之下，选择护理和医学技术的学生人数明显减少。这种变化主要发生在中国学生，主要是女性身上。一半的学生（50.35%）表示在完成当前课程后更愿意从事医疗保健工作。此外，36.39%的学生认为在疫情面前知识太有限，毕业后希望继续学习以获得更多知识。由于疫情，34.18%的学生希望未来的工作场所离家近，19.63%的学生希望在城市工作。
COVID-19 大流行影响了当前医学和卫生相关专业学生对未来工作场所和就业时间选择的职业规划。此外，疫情影响了中国学生选择未来职业的意向。本研究为决策制定、学院专业设置提供了依据，为医疗保健部门提供了人才储备信息。
