Abstract
BackgroundIn Finland the number of medical specialists varies between specialties and regions. More regulation of the post-graduate medical training is planned. Therefore, it is important to clarify what predicts doctors’ satisfaction with their chosen specialty.MethodsA random sample contained 50 % of all Finnish doctors under 70 years of age. The respose rate was 50.5 %. Working-age specialists were asked to value their motives when choosing a specialty. They were also asked if they would choose the same specialty again. The odds ratios for not choosing the same specialty again were tested.ResultsDiversity of work was the most important motive (74 % of respondents). Seventeen percent of GPs would not choose the same specialty again, compared to 2 % of ophthalmologists and 4 % of pediatricians. A major role of Diversity of work and Prestigious field correlated with satisfaction whereas Chance with dissatisfaction with the specialty.DiscussionMotives and issues related to the work and training best correlate with satisfaction with the specialty.ConclusionsWhen the numbers of Finnish postgraduate medical training posts become regulated, a renewed focus should be given to finding the most suitable speciality for each doctor. Information about employment and career advice should play an important role in this.
Highlights
In Finland the number of medical specialists varies between specialties and regions
When the answers of male and female respondents were compared, there were some significant differences in the motives for choosing a medical specialty (Fig. 2)
Medical students’ first experiences of colleagues and the content of the particular specialty seem to have a major role in selection of the specialty [3, 32,33,34,35,36]
Summary
In Finland the number of medical specialists varies between specialties and regions. It is important to clarify what predicts doctors’ satisfaction with their chosen specialty. In Finland it was recently found that the problems concerning a sufficient number of medical specialists in the future are going to vary greatly in different medical specialties and in different regions [4, 5]. The idea of future medical specialty is not stable during undergraduate studies and it can be seen as a process that evolves during medical training [9,10,11]. The choice of medical specialty is not always stable and the stability of the choice varies between specialties [12]
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