Internists‘ career choice towards primary care: a cross-sectional survey

Scherz, Nathalie; Markun, Stefan; Aemissegger, Vera; Rosemann, Thomas; Tandjung, Ryan

doi:10.1186/s12875-017-0624-2

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Similar to other studies, factors associated with considering a career as a GP were a rural background, higher age and having children (12)(13)(14). Students with an interest in general practice were more likely to attach importance to a family-friendly profession (6) than students aiming to pursue a career as a specialist.…”

Section: Socio-demographic Factorssupporting

confidence: 71%

Attitudes of medical students to general practice: a multinational cross-sectional survey

et al. 2020

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Background A shortage of general practitioners (GPs) is common to many European countries. To counteract this, it is essential to understand the factors that encourage or discourage medical students from choosing to become a GP Objective To evaluate medical students’ attitudes towards general practice and to identify factors that discourage them from considering a career as a GP. Methods In this multinational cross-sectional online survey, 29 284 students from nine German, four Austrian and two Slovenian universities were invited to answer a questionnaire consisting of 146 closed and 13 open-ended items. Results Of the 4486 students that responded (response rate: 15.3%), 3.6% wanted to become a GP, 48.1% were undecided and 34.6% did not want to be a GP. Significant predictors for interest in becoming a GP were higher age [odds ratio (OR) = 1.06; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02–1.10], positive evaluation of the content of a GP’s work (OR = 4.44; 95% CI = 3.26–6.06), organizational aspects (OR = 1.42; 95% CI = 1.13–1.78), practical experience of general practice (OR = 1.66; 95% CI = 1.08–2.56) and the country of the survey [Slovenian versus German students (Reference): OR = 2.19; 95% CI = 1.10–4.38; Austrian versus German students (Reference): OR = 0.50; 95% CI = 0.32–0.79]. Conclusion Strategies to convince undecided students to opt for a career as a GP should include a positive representation of a GP’s work and early and repeated experience of working in a general practice during medical school.

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Section: Socio-demographic Factorssupporting

confidence: 71%

Attitudes of medical students to general practice: a multinational cross-sectional survey

et al. 2020

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“…As one in three students in our study appeared to be interested in a career in general practice at the end of the bachelor’s program, this could mean that one in ten students would definitely choose to become a GP, based on previous estimates [ 22 , 53 ]. Although there is reason to believe that the attractiveness of general practice to students will increase with more direct exposure to general practice and its role model during their master’s studies [ 55 – 57 ], the main message of the study is to address the challenge of making primary care more attractive to students starting from the bachelor’s program. In fact, a third-year medical student was less likely to be interested in general practice compared to a first-year student.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the attractiveness of medical careers and career determinants during the bachelor’s program at Zurich medical schools

Weiss,

Di Gangi,

Inauen

et al. 2024

BMC Med Educ

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Background Monitoring the career intentions of medical students during their undergraduate studies could help to address the shortage of physicians, particularly in general practice. This study aimed to investigate changes in medical students' career openness, attractiveness and determinants of medical career choice during their bachelor’s studies. Methods The design was cross-sectional, recruiting all medical students who started a bachelor’s program in one of the four different educational tracks in Zurich, Switzerland, in the fall of 2019 (first survey) and completed it in the summer of 2022 (second survey). Students’ perceptions of the attractiveness and determinants of different medical career options were assessed using a structured online questionnaire. Absolute changes between the two-time points were reported in percentage points overall and by educational track. Regression analysis was used to examine the association of student characteristics and determinants of career options with the attractiveness of each option. Results We surveyed 354 medical students at the beginning and 433 at the end of the bachelor’s program (participation rate: 71.1% and 86.9%, respectively). Overall, the proportion of students open to all proposed medical career options decreased (from 52.8% to 43.8%, p = 0.004). The attractiveness of outpatient gynecology or pediatrics increased (from 27.4% to 43.4%, p < 0.001), whereas the attractiveness of both general and specialized inpatient care decreased (from 47.8% to 40.3%, p = 0.05 and from 71.1% to 61.1%, p = 0.006 respectively). There was an increase in the proportion of students who perceived part-time work, autonomy and relationships with patients as important career determinants (from 47.3% to 64.7%, p < 0.001; from 63.3% to 77.8%, p < 0.001; from 80.8% to 89.3%, p = 0.002 respectively), while the importance of reputation and career opportunities decreased (from 42.6% to 26.2%, p < 0.001; from 79.2% to 63.6%, p < 0.001 respectively). The importance of part-time work and relationships with patients were positively associated with the attractiveness of general practice. Conclusions During the bachelor’s program, the attractiveness of a career in general practice tended to decrease, but the importance of part-time work, autonomy and relationships with patients as career determinants increased. Helping students understand how these determinants relate to general practice may increase their interest in the profession. Trial registration Not applicable.

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“…Moreover, information from non-respondents was unavailable and because the survey was distributed to those students present at the universities, there is a risk for selection bias linked to students’ willingness to attend lectures. Lastly, career commitment in the majority of Swiss physicians happens during residency, therefore results from this studies are projections likely associated with career outcomes, not career outcomes themselves [ 41 , 42 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attractiveness of medical disciplines amongst Swiss first-year medical students allocated to different medical education tracks: cross-sectional study

Markun¹,

Tandjung²,

Rosemann³

et al. 2022

BMC Med Educ

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Background As most countries, Switzerland is experiencing a shortage of physicians especially in general practice and new medical education tracks with respective focusses have been started in response. This study investigated Swiss medical students’ career openness and attractiveness of different medical disciplines as well as the concordance of students’ career intentions with assigned medical education tracks. Methods Cross-sectional study surveying first year medical students assigned to four different Swiss medical education tracks with distinctive additional education focuses (ETH Zurich: medical technology and engineering, University of St. Gallen and University of Lucerne: primary healthcare and University of Zurich: no distinctive focus). Results We surveyed 354 medical students (response rate across all included medical education tracks 71.1%), 64.8% female, mean age 20 years. Regarding career openness, we found that 52.8% of medical students had neither a strong commitment nor a strong reservation for any of the proposed career options and 17.0% had a strong commitment. Among medical disciplines, medical subspecialties were attractive to the largest part of students (inpatient subspecialties attractive for 71%, outpatient for 58%), attractiveness of general practice was moderate (30%), academic (22%) and industrial sector (17%) careers were least attractive. Proportions of medical students attracted to general practice were similar at medical education tracks with focus on primary healthcare compared to other medical education tracks (32.2% vs. 25.8%, p = 0.391). Conversely, proportions of medical students attracted to academic or industry careers were significantly higher at the ETH Zurich compared to other medical education tracks (37.2%, vs. 13.1%, p < 0.001 and 31.9%, vs. 8.8%, p < 0.001 respectively). Conclusion While most first-year medical students were open to careers in many medical disciplines, attractiveness of disciplines varied strongly. Students attracted to academic or industrial careers accumulated at the medical education track with concordant teaching focus but students attracted to general practice did not accumulate at medical education tracks focused on primary healthcare. For medical education tracks with primary care teaching focus this is both a challenge and an opportunity to specifically counteract the shortage of general practitioners in Switzerland.

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Internists‘ career choice towards primary care: a cross-sectional survey

Cited by 6 publications

References 26 publications

Attitudes of medical students to general practice: a multinational cross-sectional survey

Attitudes of medical students to general practice: a multinational cross-sectional survey

Changes in the attractiveness of medical careers and career determinants during the bachelor’s program at Zurich medical schools

Attractiveness of medical disciplines amongst Swiss first-year medical students allocated to different medical education tracks: cross-sectional study

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