Determinants of the Medical Speciality Choice of Residents at University Hospital

Abstract

This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. Choosing a medical specialty involves multifactorial components and is personally and socially important, determining professional performance and satisfaction. This cross-sectional study aimed to analyze the factors related to the choice of medical specialty of residents at University Hospital of the Federal University of Piauí (HU-UFPI) from 2014 to 2016. We used electronic questionnaire to evaluate the residents. Residents who either refused to participate of the survey or dropped out of medical residency were excluded. 86 questionnaires were sent. The response rate was 73.2%. According to the survey 74.6% were single at admission to medical residency; 87.1% were childless; 55.6% were 25-30 years old when started their residency. 60.3% of the residents chose HU-UFPI medical residency program due to the quality of education offered by the institution. Such factors may explain differences in medical specialty distribution and how those choices affect healthcare dynamics. The main domain of reasons that influenced the choice of medical specialty was "preference and personal identification". The least influential domain in the choice of medical residency was "educational system. Thus, multiple factors affect medical residents' choice of specialty. Such factors may be used to understand differences in medical specialty distribution and how those choices affect healthcare dynamics.