Abstract
ObjectivesTo investigate medical students’ career choice motivation and its relationship with their academic interest and performance. MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study in a sample (n=207) of medical students at a private medical school in Korea, stratified by year of medical course. Data about participant demographics, career choice motivation and academic interest were collected using a self-report questionnaire. The item on career choice motivation enquired about the respondents’ main reason for applying for medical school among 8 possible response options, which comprised two components of career choice motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. The participants’ levels of academic interest were measured in a Likert-type question. Participants’ academic interest and Grade Point Averages (GPAs) were compared across the groups of different career motivations along with analyses of their admission scores for baseline comparisons. ResultsA total of 195 students completed the questionnaire (94%response rate). Seventy-four percent, (n=145; the intrinsic group) of the participants chose reasons related to intrinsic motivation, 22% (n=42; the extrinsic group) chose reasons pertaining to extrinsic motivation, and 4% (n = 8) chose other reasons for applying to medical school. The intrinsic group outperformed the extrinsic group in their GPAs, although their prior academic achievements did not differ significantly. The intrinsic group showed significantly higher levels of academic interest and also performed better in the admission interviews. ConclusionsOur study illustrates differences in medical students’ academic interest and performance across career choice motivations. Further research is warranted to establish the predictive power of medical students’ career choice motivation and academic interest on their academic performance.
Highlights
The learner’s motivation is a critical component of the learning process and research indicates that it influences his or her learning and performance.[1,2] Motivation is known to be a predictor for students’ persistence or continuation in a study and psychological well-being, such as distress and burnout.[2,3] research in medical education has shown that medical students’ motivation is associated with their academic achievement.[4,5,6]Among several constructs on motivation is the student’s motivation for pursuing a medical career when entering medical school, which is referred to as career choice motivation.[3]
Research has shown that career choice motivation is related to burnout in medical students[3] and suggests a link between their career choice motivations and approaches to learning,[8] empirical evidence is lacking on the relationship between medical students’ career choice motivation and their academic performance
Participants’ demographics and their career choice motivations A total of 195 students completed the questionnaire (94% response rate) comprising of 78 (40%) female and 117 (60%) male; 76 (39%) undergraduate-entry and 119 (61%) graduate-entry
Summary
The learner’s motivation is a critical component of the learning process and research indicates that it influences his or her learning and performance.[1,2] Motivation is known to be a predictor for students’ persistence or continuation in a study and psychological well-being, such as distress and burnout.[2,3] research in medical education has shown that medical students’ motivation is associated with their academic achievement.[4,5,6]Among several constructs on motivation is the student’s motivation for pursuing a medical career when entering medical school, which is referred to as career choice motivation.[3]. As healthcare students tend to bring more unique intentions and motivations for learning than is commonly seen in other university students,[7] it can be argued that it is important to understand the impact of career choice motivation on their learning and performance. Research has shown that career choice motivation is related to burnout in medical students[3] and suggests a link between their career choice motivations and approaches to learning,[8] empirical evidence is lacking on the relationship between medical students’ career choice motivation and their academic performance
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