Guru Agrithaa, Henning Marcus Alexander, Webster Craig S, Kool Bridget, Wilkinson Tim J, Bagg Warwick
School of Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Centre for Medical and Health Sciences Education, School of Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Adv Med Educ Pract. 2025 Jul 29;16:1287-1295. doi: 10.2147/AMEP.S529450. eCollection 2025.
The influences on medical graduates' career choices and destinations are varied but not well quantified. This study aimed to explore the validity of an instrument that measures the factors that influence Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) medical students' career choices.
The Medical Schools Outcomes Database (MSOD) questionnaire containing 24 question items entitled "Factors Influencing Career Choice" (FICC) section was psychometrically analyzed. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed to identify underlying constructs associated within these question items. This was followed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), conducted on a subsequent cohort to confirm the validity of the identified factor structure.
The EFA (n=300) identified four main factors: Placement Experiences, Work Flexibility, Vocational Characteristics, and Finances and Rewards. The CFA (n=343) confirmed the same factor structure. A parsimonious factor structure was achieved after modification of indices and removal of nine items that did not contribute to enhancing the model fit. Two of the four fit indices were within acceptable limits, indicating a reasonable fit of the factor structure. The four factors identified in this study are conceptually consistent with published literature on medical students' career choices.
The current FICC section of MSOD questionnaire is useful in identifying key factors influencing NZ students' career choice. Items removed in the CFA model indicate possible issues underlying the current wording of the item stems, obscuring the effectiveness of the questionnaire. Future research to enhance the scope and sensitivity of the current FICC section can further improve the utility of this tool in informing curriculum developments and shaping the needs of the future medical workforce.
对医学毕业生职业选择和就业去向的影响因素多种多样，但尚未得到很好的量化。本研究旨在探讨一种衡量影响新西兰医学生职业选择因素的工具的有效性。
对医学院校成果数据库（MSOD）问卷进行了心理测量分析，该问卷包含一个名为“影响职业选择的因素”（FICC）的部分，有24个问题项。进行探索性因素分析（EFA）以确定这些问题项中相关的潜在结构。随后对另一队列进行验证性因素分析（CFA），以确认所确定因素结构的有效性。
探索性因素分析（n = 300）确定了四个主要因素：实习经历、工作灵活性、职业特征以及经济状况和回报。验证性因素分析（n = 343）证实了相同的因素结构。在修改指标并删除九个对改善模型拟合无贡献的项目后，得到了一个简约的因素结构。四个拟合指标中的两个在可接受范围内，表明因素结构拟合合理。本研究确定的四个因素在概念上与关于医学生职业选择的已发表文献一致。
MSOD问卷当前的FICC部分有助于识别影响新西兰学生职业选择的关键因素。在验证性因素分析模型中删除的项目表明项目题干当前措辞可能存在潜在问题，从而掩盖了问卷的有效性。未来旨在扩大当前FICC部分范围和提高其敏感性的研究可以进一步提升该工具在为课程发展提供信息以及塑造未来医学劳动力需求方面的效用。
