Survey on perception of general practice and career intention among undergraduates in Harbin Medical University

Abstract

A questionnaire survey on the perception of general practice and career intention was conducted among 365 undergraduates in Harbin Medical University in May 2018. Among all participants 71 (19.45%) had studied the course of to General Medicine, and 289 did not (79.18%). Twenty one students well knew general practice (5.78%), 189 knew (51.78%) and 155 students did not know (42.47%); 164 (44.93%) would pursue a master degree study in general practice after graduation, 216 people (59.18%) were willing to attend standardized residency training after graduation, and 147 (40.27%) choose to be a general practitioner after graduation. The proportion of students willing to pursue a master degree study in general medicine and to receive standardized resident training of general practice in students who had studied Introduction to General/Family Medicine was lower than that in hose did not studied (χ2=7.46, 7.14, both P<0.05). The top three reasons for becoming a general practitioner were more chance for career development (70.15%, 109/147), loving the subject (52.38%, 77/147), and difficulty to be employed for other specialties (27.21%, 40/147). The first three reasons for not being a general practitioner were less chance for career development (52.17%, 133/138), less interesting specialty (47.10%, 65/138), unfamiliar with grassroots work (39.86%, 55/138). The survey indicates that medical colleges should continue to strengthen the education of general practice, and constantly improve its curriculum system to attract more medical students to join the team of general practitioners after their graduation. Key words: General practice; Education, medical, undergraduate; Cognitive; Career intention