Perceptions of Medical Students Regarding Career Counseling in Korea: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Current medical school education focuses on acquiring appropriate knowledge with relatively little interest in developing the career selection skills of medical students. We investigated medical students’ perceptions of career problems and the required types of career counseling programs. Five focus group discussions were held with 23 medical students. The consensual qualitative study method was used to analyze the recorded discussion process. The medical students were more influenced by parents and grades than by subjective choices when deciding on admission to medical school. In future career choices, medical students considered the stability and feasibility of the career and expected quality of life. However, there were several opinions that it is essential to understand oneself. Objective and specific career information was lacking, and meeting with the professor was not very helpful for career counseling. Most medical students expected the effectiveness of the career counseling program but hoped the program would proceed with voluntary participation. Medical students wanted a variety of concrete and objective information, such as specialty information for choosing residency training, trainee hospital information, and post-residency training information in the career counseling program. Most medical students are not ready for career-related problems, therefore making it necessary to develop a career counseling program suitable for them.

Innovative technologies of vocational guidance work in higher medical educational institutions (Ukrainian and foreign experience)

“…The greatest interest among medical students is information about the specialty to choose for residency, the hospital where the internship will take place, the professional direction of physician practice, etc. To these questions, according to Ock et al, (2020), students need a qualified answer, which should be provided by the professionals in charge of career guidance for students and those upgrading/changing their qualifications at the university.…”

“…The general features of innovation in the career guidance work of foreign universities are highlighted by Dodd et al (2020), Keshf et al (2021), Launikari et al (2020). The regional and national aspects of the higher education cluster can be found in the works of South Korean researchers Ock et al (2020), German scientists Fitzenberger (2019), American scientist Hyman (2020). Ukrainian studies of this problem are concentrated in the works of Tsekhmister et al (2021), Cherusheva & Syniakov (2020).…”

Role of Structured Career Counselling in Speciality Selection among Post Graduate Trainees

“…Decision about speciality or future career path is crucial academic judgement for medical students. Considering my results, a career counselling program for medical students is required for promoting their self-examination of their preferences with understanding of their abilities and providing information about department and career direction 14 .…”

Qualitative Research in Healthcare: Data Analysis

“…CQR can be a suitable research methodology to persuade researchers who are hesitant to accept the results of qualitative research. Although CQR is still rarely used in healthcare research, some studies have applied it to investigate topics of interest [ 6 , 7 ].…”