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Abstract
Background: Pressures related to medical training influence individual experiences in the course of study, which in turn can lead to changes in students’ professional attitudes. Purposes: The aim of this investigation was to explore expectations, experiences, and attitude changes among Polish students as they progressed through a medical university. Methods: The study used a longitudinal approach in which the same cohort of students was surveyed over time, with the same questionnaire administered, at the end of Year 1 and Year 6. Results: The results showed that the disparity between students’ expectations about studying medicine and the reality increased between Year 1 and Year 6 (p <.0001). The biggest gap concerned “technical support” and “contacts with faculty”—the observed effect size was medium with the respective Cohen's d values 0.507 and 0.368. Students in Year 1 were most disappointed by the “lack of support from faculty and their lack of interest in teaching,” whereas, in Year 6, students were most concerned about an approach to teaching that equipped them in theoretical knowledge at the expense of practical skills. Students in Year 6 noticed more changes in themselves and their perception of the world as a result of medical training than students in Year 1. However, the proportion of positive changes to negative ones was 5.4:1 for Year 1 and 1.4:1 for Year 6 students. Conclusions: Our findings show that medical training constitutes a strong socializing experience, which has positive and negative impacts. Negative changes perceived by students include an increase in distrust and cynicism, whereas positive changes consist of enhanced maturity, self-confidence, and empathy, which are likely to have an impact on future doctors’ professional practice.