Medical students’ and prospective medical students’ uncertainties about career intentions: Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies

Abstract

Background: Policy prompts medical students’ earlier career awareness.

Aim: To explore changes and uncertainty in medical (and prospective medical) students’ career intentions in a 5-year problem-based curriculum.

Methods: Six postal questionnaire surveys of medical students and one survey of prospective medical students sought career intentions from three entry-cohorts (one also seeking why they chose medicine, and one, the reason for the career intention).

Results: From the 973 (91.4%) 2001/02 admission interviewees responding, 74/189 (39.2%) of those admitted and remaining ‘in-year’ re-reported career intentions 5 years later (2006/07). Of the 1999 entrants (start-Year 1; end-Year 1; and mid-Year 3) and 2001 entrants (start-Year 1 and end-Year 1), 61.2–77.9% responded. Up to mid-programme, only 9.5–18.8% reported general practice, significantly more of whom described altruistic reasons for choosing medicine (2001 entrants). Tracked longitudinally, career intentions stayed relatively stable, but a small significant retreat from general practice over Year 1 predated clinical placements. From pre-admission to mid-Year 5, uncertainty decreased significantly, but 14.9% replied ‘do not know’ both times. Significantly more prospective students from the least affluent English or Welsh postcodes specified a career intention.

Conclusion: Many students might delay considering career intentions, particularly general practice. Socioeconomic determinants of early medical career decision making merit further study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gillian Maudsley

GILLIAN MAUDSLEY is an academic public health doctor. Her doctoral thesis about learning in a problem-based undergraduate medical curriculum (supervised by Dr Lyn Williams and Dr David Taylor) gave the first six datasets [a–f] here. The seventh dataset [g] was extracted from a study about cognitive development, for her MA in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education.

Lyn Williams

LYN WILLIAMS is an academic public health doctor, with an interest in personality type (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) in undergraduate medical education (and in other academic and health service settings).

David Taylor

DAVID TAYLOR has a physiology background, and is the deputy director (quality, research, assessment) for this curriculum, with an interest in problem-based learning (PBL) and professionalism in undergraduate medical education.