Change in specialty choice during medical school.

Fifteen studies conducted at US medical schools since 1967 that dealt with stability and change of specialty choice were reviewed. The review focused on overall stability of choice, stability within the six major clerkship specialties, increased or decreased preference for the six major clerkship specialties, and specific changes in preference among the six major clerkship specialties. Among the findings of the review were a 39 percent overall agreement (stability) rate; considerable variability in agreement (stability) rate by specialty, ranging from 50 percent for surgery to 26 percent for obstetrics-gynecology and pediatrics; a notable increase in preference for internal medicine, and a dramatic decrease in preference for family practice during the undergraduate years; and different patterns of change among individual specialties.