Factors affecting career choice of students in a medical faculty

Abstract

Objectives: Career choice is a complex process where individual and environmental factors are effective. Medicine is one of occupational disciplines which is preferred most by young people who are successfull numerical subject in Turkey. This study was carried out to determine the factors that affect the career choices of firs-year students in the faculty of medicine at a state university. Materials and methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional which was performed with the participation of first-year student (n=167) between March 1, 2020 and March 30, 2020. Data were collected by online survey method and analyzed with SPSS 25.0 package program. We evaluated 11 factors, which we thought to be effective in the choice of medical faculty, with a 5-point Likert type scale. Descriptive statistics were expressed in numbers and percentage and numerical data were expressed in mean and standard deviation. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparisons. Statistical significance level was accepted as p<0.05. Results: A total of 58.1% of the students participating in the study were girls female and 41.9% were male. The factor that was considered most important by the students in their choice of profession with a rate of 36.5% was the certainty of employment of physicians. It was followed by helping people with a rate of 53.9% and being a respected profession in the society with a rate of 53.3%. More male students than female students stated that they chose medicine because they wanted to earn more money (p<0.05) Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the most important factor in choosing medical career of first-year student in medical faculty was the certainty of employment. It was followed by helping people and medicine as a respected profession.