Israeli medical students' perceptions of six key medical specialties.

Charles Weissman,Howard Tandeter,Uriel Elchalal,Alex Avidan,Yoram G Weiss,Josh E Schroeder,Rachel Yaffa Zisk-Rony

doi:10.1186/2045-4015-2-19

Abstract

BackgroundChoosing a medical specialty requires medical students to match their interests and social-cultural situations with their perceptions of the various specialties.ObjectivesExamine Israeli 6th-year medical students’ perceptions of six key specialties: pediatrics, orthopedic surgery, anesthesiology, obstetrics/gynecology, general surgery and family medicine.MethodsQuestionnaires distributed to 355 6th-year students from three successive classes (2008–2010) of 6th-year students at the Hebrew University – Hadassah School of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel and the 2010 class of the Ben Gurion University School of Medicine, Be’er Sheva, Israel.ResultsResponses were obtained from 234 students, for a response rate of 66%. Pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology were the specialties most often under positive career consideration by individual students. Anesthesiology and general surgery were least often under positive career consideration and were viewed as being in a workforce crisis. Pediatrics and family medicine, found to be especially popular among women, were perceived by 58% and 78% of respondents, respectively, as providing reasonable ratios of lifestyle to income. None of the students thought the same about general surgery and only 28% thought so about anesthesiology. Pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology were reported to afford a controllable lifestyle by 63% and 8%, respectively, With respect to positive career considerations and lifestyle perceptions, there were no differences between the opinions of men and women students. Differences between genders arose in responses to queries of whether a specialty was interesting and challenging. Women were more likely than men to perceive pediatrics and family medicine as interesting and challenging while men were more likely to think that general and orthopedic surgery are interesting and challenging.ConclusionsKnowing the medical students’ perceptions of the various specialties should help in understanding the maldistribution of physicians among the various specialties. Such data can also be an important input into the efforts of the healthcare leadership to promote a specialty distribution that matches the population’s evolving needs.

Highlights

Choosing a medical specialty requires medical students to match their interests and social-cultural situations with their perceptions of the various specialties
To provide insights into the selection process, this study examined the two sides of the marketing equation: both the students’ selection criteria and their perceptions of the various specialties. This was accomplished using a questionnaire designed to elicit (1) the importance of each of the 25 criteria with respect to the students’ choice of a medical specialty; (2) their perceptions (16 items) of how six key specialties rate on each of the 25 criteria; (3) their level of consideration in pursuing a career in each of these specialties; and (4) demographic data
The study focused on four specialties mirroring those practiced by the investigators plus pediatrics and general surgery

Summary

Introduction

Choosing a medical specialty requires medical students to match their interests and social-cultural situations with their perceptions of the various specialties. The decision requires that individuals match their interests, social situations and cultural backgrounds with a specific vocation. The medical specialties differ greatly in work settings, skill sets, duties, responsibilities and professional interests, so that they essentially constitute a group of distinct occupations [2,3]. Choosing a specialty is complicated and made even more problematic by modern medical care becoming increasingly complex, resulting in increasing specialization and sub-specialization. As populations continue to grow, so does the demand for more primary care physicians. The distribution of physicians among the primary, secondary and tertiary specialties is a function of the number of medical school graduates, their choice of specialties, and the number of available residency and fellowship training positions

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