Okayama University Medical School Faculty of Medicine, Okayama, Japan.
Department of General Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan.
BMC Med Educ. 2024 Jan 10;24(1):55. doi: 10.1186/s12909-023-05021-6.
The World Health Organization first declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in March 2020 and announced the end of the emergency in May 2023. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted individuals globally, including medical students. Although the COVID-19 pandemic increased online education, it restricted clinical training, extracurricular activities, and interprovincial travel. Therefore, this study aimed to examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the choice of training hospitals and career paths among 3rd- to 6th-year medical students in Japan.
We developed a questionnaire comprising 21 multiple-choice and 1 open-ended questions, which was administered anonymously via online platforms. The survey targeted Japanese medical students to obtain insights into their preferences for training hospitals and career paths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants included 4th- to 6th-year medical students from 51 medical schools in Japan. The survey was conducted through student networks from 8 February 2022 to 20 March 2022.
Overall, 507 medical students participated in the survey, with representation from various academic years as follows: 102 (20.1%), 134 (26.4%), 121 (23.9%), and 150 (29.6%) students from the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th year, respectively. Of these, 338 (66.6%) students reported that the COVID-19 pandemic had influenced their choice of training hospitals. The degree of the influence varied based on the university region and the student year. However, most of the students (473, 93.3%) did not change their course for clinical, basic research, or administrative pathways due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the clinically oriented students, 391 (77.2%) did not change their preferred speciality.
The COVID-19 pandemic influenced medical students' choice of training hospitals. Although many students believed that the pandemic would not change their career choices, our results indicate a potential subconscious trend to avoid internal medicine, which is the speciality most directly involved in treating patients with COVID-19.
世界卫生组织于 2020 年 3 月首次宣布 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行，并于 2023 年 5 月宣布紧急状态结束。此外，COVID-19 大流行对全球个人产生了重大影响，包括医学生。尽管 COVID-19 大流行增加了在线教育，但它限制了临床培训、课外活动和省际旅行。因此，本研究旨在检查 COVID-19 大流行是否影响了日本 3 至 6 年级医学生对培训医院和职业道路的选择。
我们开发了一份包含 21 个多项选择题和 1 个开放式问题的问卷，并通过在线平台匿名进行。该调查针对日本医学生，以了解他们在 COVID-19 大流行期间对培训医院和职业道路的偏好。参与者包括来自日本 51 所医学院的 4 至 6 年级医学生。该调查通过学生网络于 2022 年 2 月 8 日至 2022 年 3 月 20 日进行。
共有 507 名医学生参加了调查，他们来自不同的学年，分别为：3 年级 102 人（20.1%）、4 年级 134 人（26.4%）、5 年级 121 人（23.9%）和 6 年级 150 人（29.6%）。其中，338 名（66.6%）学生表示 COVID-19 大流行影响了他们对培训医院的选择。影响程度因大学地区和学生年级而异。然而，大多数学生（473 名，93.3%）并没有因为 COVID-19 大流行而改变他们选择临床、基础研究或行政途径的课程。在以临床为导向的学生中，391 名（77.2%）学生没有改变他们首选的专业。
COVID-19 大流行影响了医学生对培训医院的选择。尽管许多学生认为大流行不会改变他们的职业选择，但我们的结果表明，有一种潜在的潜意识趋势是避免内科，这是与治疗 COVID-19 患者最直接相关的专业。
