School of Medicine, Dentistry & Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University Belfast.
Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, Belfast.
Ulster Med J. 2023 May;92(2):71-76. Epub 2023 Aug 29.
Decisions made by medical students on future career choice have demonstrated concordance with subsequent postgraduate career path. This study aimed to understand the factors that impact undergraduate career decision making.
An anonymous voluntary survey consisting of binominal, Likert and free text responses was distributed to all medical students registered at Queen's University Belfast (QUB). Data was collected over 6 weeks in April-May 2021. The primary outcome was future career aspirations. The secondary outcomes were the impact of mentorship on career choice, the likelihood of students completing their medical degree and practicing medicine upon graduation. Local ethical approval was obtained.
202 responses were received (response rate 15%). 67% (n = 135) were female. One third of respondents remained undecided about their future career choice. Surgery was both the most popular definite career choice (16.3%) of respondents, butalsothespecialtymarkedmostoftenas'Least preferred Specialty' (33%). Factors positively influencing career choice were academic interest and flexibility in working hours. Negative predictors of career choice were lack of interest in the area, perceived workload, and duration of training schemes. 71% (n=144) of respondents reported that a subspecialty mentor would positively influence their career choice and two-thirds of respondents reported that financial factors would influence their career decision. 11% (n= 22) of respondents were unsure or undecided if they would continue medicine as a career upon graduation.
Uncertainty over future career intention remains common with surgery the least popular speciality. Mentorship, integrating flexibility in training and enhancing academic interest should be considered by educational stakeholders as mechanisms to generating undergraduate interest in a subspecialty. Furthermore, the reported rate of students intention to leave their medical degree prior to graduation by this cohort is concerning, warranting further investigation.
医学生未来职业选择的决策与随后的研究生涯路径具有一致性。本研究旨在了解影响本科生职业决策的因素。
一项匿名自愿调查，包括二项式、李克特量表和自由文本回答，分发给所有在贝尔法斯特女王大学（QUB）注册的医学生。数据于 2021 年 4 月至 5 月期间收集了 6 周。主要结果是未来的职业抱负。次要结果是指导对职业选择的影响、学生完成医学学位和毕业后行医的可能性。获得了当地的伦理批准。
收到 202 份回复（回复率为 15%）。67%（n=135）为女性。三分之一的受访者对未来的职业选择仍未决定。外科手术既是受访者最受欢迎的明确职业选择（16.3%），也是被标记为“最不喜欢的专业”最多的专业（33%）。对职业选择有积极影响的因素是学术兴趣和工作时间的灵活性。职业选择的负面预测因素是对该领域缺乏兴趣、感知工作量和培训计划的持续时间。71%（n=144）的受访者报告说，一个亚专业导师会对他们的职业选择产生积极影响，三分之二的受访者报告说，财务因素会影响他们的职业决策。11%（n=22）的受访者表示不确定或不打算毕业后继续从事医学职业。
对未来职业意向的不确定性仍然很常见，外科手术是最不受欢迎的专业。指导、整合培训灵活性和增强学术兴趣应该被教育利益相关者考虑作为激发本科生对亚专业兴趣的机制。此外，该队列报告的学生在毕业前离开医学学位的意向率令人担忧，需要进一步调查。
