Factors affecting future choice of specialty among first-year medical students of the University of the West Indies, Trinidad

Abstract

The findings suggest that although 1st-year medical students rank the diagnosis and treatment of disease and the ability to help patients as the greatest influence in choosing a specialty, internal medicine was the most popular chosen career, while the surgical specialties were identified as the most attractive. Medical students have serious reservations about psychiatry as a career choice.

Trends of Surgical Career Selection Among Medical Students and Graduates: A Global Perspective

“…Positive influence Direct patient care 4,15,20,24,27 Immediate impact of intervention 4,9,20 Focus on urgent care Focus on in-hospital care Personal interest (and intelligence) 3,5,6,11,20 High self-confidence 25 Individual abilities and competencies 1,20 Special skills and talents unique to the specialty 24 Challenging diagnostic problems 24 Nature of clinical problems 4,20 Active experiential learning 25 Negative influence Inadequate knowledge of gross anatomy 12 Lack of interest 14 Cadaver-based laparoscopic demonstrations to enhance gross anatomy teaching. 34 Enhanced interest of preclinical students in surgery by usage of simulation based courses, such as laparoscopy, endovascular procedures, etc.…”

Factors that discourage medical students from pursuing a career in psychiatry

“…3,8,27,28 These factors are, presumably, quite closely related to students' exposure to negative comments ('bad mouthing') about psychiatry and psychiatrists; such comments are not confined to psychiatry but have been reported as exerting a negative effect on perceptions of a career in bad-mouthed specialties. 29,30 However, only a small percentage of students endorsed the feeling that either the prestige of psychiatry or the prevalence of negative comments discouraged them 'a lot'.…”

“…Perceptions of the effectiveness of psychiatric treatment improved after 4-week psychiatric attachments but were still well below ratings for surgery, medicine and general practice. Perhaps not surprisingly, first-year medical students were found to rank the ability to help patients as their most important determinant of specialty choice, 27 emphasising how crucial perceptions of prognosis may be to recruitment.…”

“…Other studies support patient prognosis as a negative influence on attitudes and recruitment. 9,27,31,32 In Denmark, 32 students rated the degree to which they deemed treatment methods to be effective. Perceptions of the effectiveness of psychiatric treatment improved after 4-week psychiatric attachments but were still well below ratings for surgery, medicine and general practice.…”

Influence of educational programs on attitudes of medical students towards psychiatry: Effects of psychiatric experience, gender, and personality dimensions

“…Attitudes of female students were more positive than those of male students (Baptista et al 1993;Kuhnigk et al 2007). (2) Number of medical school graduates who wish to specialize in psychiatry: A decrease of interest in psychiatry has been reported internationally in medical students since the 1960s from approximately 10% (Albee 1959) to currently approximately 2-5% (Ghadirian & Engelsmann 1982;Malhi et al 2003;Baboolal & Hutchinson 2007;Kuhnigk et al 2007). …”