Whether or wither some specialties: a survey of Canadian medical student career interest

Bruce J Wright,Ian M Scott,Margot C Gowans,Fraser R Brenneis

doi:10.1186/1472-6920-9-57

Bruce J Wright, Ian M Scott + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-9-57

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Abstract

BackgroundGiven the looming shortage of physicians in Canada, we wished to determine how closely the career preference of students entering Canadian medical schools was aligned with the current physician mix in Canada.MethodsCareer choice information was collected from a survey of 2,896 Canadian medical students upon their entry to medical school. The distribution of career choices of survey respondents was compared to the current physician speciality mix in Canada.ResultsWe show that there is a clear mismatch between student career choice at medical school entry and the current specialty mix of physicians in Canada. This mismatch is greatest in Urban Family Medicine with far fewer students interested in this career at medical school entry compared to the current proportion of practicing physicians. There are also fewer students interested in Psychiatry than the current proportion of practicing physicians.ConclusionThis mismatch between the student interest and the current proportion of practicing physicians in the various specialities in Canada is particularly disturbing in the face of the current sub-optimal distribution of physicians. If nothing is done to correct this mismatch of student interest in certain specialities, shortages and misdistributions of physicians will be further amplified. Studies such as this can give a window into the future health human resources challenges for a nation.

Highlights

Given the looming shortage of physicians in Canada, we wished to determine how closely the career preference of students entering Canadian medical schools was aligned with the current physician mix in Canada
Even though Canada has more physicians per capita than many nations, reductions in the ratio of physicians to patients combined with an aging population is expected to have implications for the health care system.[1]
CaRMS is a not-for-profit organization that works with the medical education community, medical schools and students, to provide an electronic application service and a computer match for entry into postgraduate medical training that serves all medical students and all postgraduate programs throughout Canada.[15]

Summary

Introduction

Given the looming shortage of physicians in Canada, we wished to determine how closely the career preference of students entering Canadian medical schools was aligned with the current physician mix in Canada. In Canada, the number and specialty of physicians is determined by numerous factors including government policies, undergraduate and postgraduate training opportunities, immigration and emigration of providers, gender (page number not for citation purposes). CaRMS is a not-for-profit organization that works with the medical education community, medical schools and students, to provide an electronic application service and a computer match for entry into postgraduate medical training that serves all medical students and all postgraduate programs throughout Canada.[15] Canadian medical school training is 4 years at all schools in Canada except two schools where the training lasts 3 years. Students enter the CaRMS match at the end of this undergraduate medical training. All Canadian medical graduates wishing to enter a residency in Canada participate in CaRMS. In 2008, 91% of Canadian medical graduates were matched to their top discipline at the end of the first round of the match.[17]

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