Analysing motivation to do medicine cross-culturally: The international motivation to do medicine scale

Abstract


 
 
 Vaglum, Wiers-Jensen, & Ekeberg (1999) developed an instrument to assess motivation to study medicine. This instrument has been applied in different countries but it has not been studied cross-culturally. Our aims were to develop a Motivation to do Medicine Scale for use in international studies and to compare motivations of UK and Spanish medical students (UK: n= 375; Spain: n= 149). A cross-sectional and cross-cultural study was conducted. The Vaglum et al. (1999) Motivation to do Medicine Scale (MMS) was used. The original MMS factor structure was not supported by the Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Exploratory Factor Analyses within each country identified four factors: “People”, “Status”, “Natural Science” and “Research”. Students scored higher on the “People” and “Natural Science” than on the other factors. The UK sample scored higher than the Spanish sample on the “Research” factor and there were greater difference between genders in Spain for both “People” and “Research” factors. The scale is suitable for use in cross-cultural studies of medical students’ motivation. It can be used to investigate differences between countries and may be used to examine changes in motivation over time or over medical disciplines. 
 
 

The decision to be a physician: a Brazil-Portugal multicultural study

“…For most participants in this study, the professional choice included more than one motivational factor, sometimes This similarity occurs despite the cultural, social and economic differences between the two countries. A similar result was found in studies that compared the United Kingdom with Spain and Ghana 16,17 .…”

“…Qualitative studies in the Netherlands and quantitative ones in Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom described similar results to those observed in the Portuguese group, where interest in science and in helping people were the main reasons for following a medical career 16,17,25,[29][30][31] .…”

“…Studies carried out in different countries, with quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches, evaluating different generations of medical students, at different times during the course and also analyzing recently graduated students 12,16,17,[21][22][23][24][25] showed similar results, with a predominance of an inherent motivational tendency, a natural source of learning and achievements, considered a critical element in cognitive, social and physical development 9 . Intrinsically motivated individuals are more likely to engage in deeper learning, demonstrate better performance, greater creativity and the development of a strong professional identity 12 .…”

“…Quantitative studies have corroborated the prevalence of altruistic and humanitarian reasons in different countries, and some authors have described a greater tendency among female individuals towards social and altruistic interests 16,21,24 .…”

“…The motivation to practice Medicine has been studied by several researchers in different countries. Some studies have compared their results in different social and cultural realities 16,17 . There is, however, a scarcity in studies that deal with motivational factors related to choosing a medical career, when comparing Brazil and Portugal.…”