Factors Influencing a Medical Student's Decision to Pursue Surgery as a Career

Abstract

Background Recent match trends from the National Resident Matching Program suggest that the number of allopathic medical students (MD) pursuing general surgery is declining. This decline may have profound consequences given the surgeon shortage predicted by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Early exposure to surgery opportunities may increase a student's desire to pursue the specialty as a career. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect surgical activities have on promoting student interest in surgery. Methods Medical students (years 1-3) at the University of Illinois at Rockford completed a two-component activity: a questionnaire and laparoscopic box activity. Differences in lifestyle factors, psychomotor aptitude, and future career interests were compared. Results A total of 64 medical students completed the activity. 45.3% of students reported that the activity positively influenced their decision to pursue a career in surgery. Rating of the importance of living in a rural versus urban community was an important lifestyle factor (p = 0.01) for students without rather than with an interest in surgery, 3.95 and 3.19, respectively. No differences were observed in other lifestyle factors. Conclusion Early exposure to surgical activities may foster interest in students who lacked previous intention to pursue the specialty.

Women in surgery: a systematic review of 25 years

“…[50][51][52] A redesign of the daily work, career advancement and scholarly demands could attract more women to surgery. [51][52][53][54] Shifting the surgical profession to support a work-life balance may encourage women to enter the profession. It appears the greatest barrier is the current structure of surgical practice.…”

Influence of familial status on medical graduates’ motivation for choosing a surgical career

“…Different countries face an uneven distribution of medical specialties (1). Of note, the interest in a surgical career is certainly declining in some countries (2)(3)(4), and a recent systematic review (5) showed that various factors may affect choice of surgery as a career, mainly gender, features of surgical education, and acceptance of surgical lifestyle are the most important factors. The identification of the reasons that lead to the decision making process of choosing a surgical career may be used to create strategies to increase the attractiveness of this career.…”

Escolha da profissão e especialidade por médicos de um serviço de transtornos alimentares

“…As trajetórias de formação profissional de médicos comumente são marcadas por dois momentos cruciais de escolha: o que envolve a própria profissão médica e, posteriormente, a tomada de decisão pela área de especialidade. Em Medicina o exercício profissional é heterogêneo devido ao leque extenso de especialidades e subespecialidades existentes, que são marcadas por diferenças em termos da área de atuação, ambiente de trabalho e variedade de pacientes assistidos (Al--Ansari & Khafagy, 2006) Considerando que a prática médica exige uma formação que requer anos de educação continuada após a graduação (Dorsey et al, 2003), diversos estudos têm se dedicado a analisar os fatores que influenciam essa escolha, uma preocupação que tem emergido tanto no cenário internacional (Al-Ansari & Khafagy, 2006;Dorsey et al, 2003;Shelton et al, 2019), como no contexto brasileiro (Corsi et al, 2014;Millan et al, 2005).…”

“…Estudos anteriores indicaram que a exposição precoce à especialidade na educação médica pode despertar o interesse acadêmico dos alunos e melhorar sua competência clínica (Bodenheimer & Pham, 2010;Compton et al, 2008). Por exemplo, pesquisa recente concluiu que a exposição precoce a atividades cirúrgicas emergiu como um fator que influenciou o interesse de estudantes que não tinham intenção prévia de seguir essa especialidade (Shelton et al, 2019). Ainda é desconhecido se fatores circunstanciais como este também poderiam exercer influência na escolha de outras especialidades médicas, como a Nutrologia e, dentro dela, especificamente a atuação na clínica dos TAs.…”