Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Feb 12;7(1):1.
doi: 10.1186/s13584-017-0193-9.

Medical students' perceptions of a career in family medicine

Sody Naimer  1 , Yan Press  2 , Charles Weissman  3 , Rachel Yaffa Zisk-Rony  4 , Yoram G Weiss  3 , Howard Tandeter  2
Affiliations

Medical students' perceptions of a career in family medicine

Sody Naimer et al. Isr J Health Policy Res. .

Abstract

Background: In Israel, there is a shortage of family medicine (FM) specialists that is occasioned by a shortage of students pursuing a FM career.

Methods: A questionnaire, based on methods adapted from marketing research, was used to provide insight into the medical specialty selection process. It was distributed to 6th-year medical students from two Israeli medical schools.

Results: A response rate of 66% resulted in collecting 218 completed questionnaires. Nineteen of the students reported that they were interested in FM, 68% of them were women. When compared to students not interested in FM, the selection criteria of students interested in FM reflected greater interest in a bedside specialty which provides direct long-term patient care. These latter students were also more interested in a controllable lifestyle that allowed time to be with family and children and working outside the hospital especially during the daytime. These selection criteria aligned with their perceptions of FM, which they perceived as providing them with a controllable lifestyle, allowing them to work limited hours with time for family and having a reasonable income to lifestyle ratio. The students not interested in FM, agreed with those interested in FM, that the specialty affords a controllable lifestyle and the ability to work limited hours Yet, students not interested in FM more often perceived FM as being a boring specialty and less often perceived it as providing a reasonable income to lifestyle ratio. Additionally, students not interested in FM rated the selection criteria, academic opportunities and a prestigious specialty, more highly than did students interested in FM. However, they perceived FM as neither being prestigious nor as affording academic opportunities CONCLUSION: This study enriches our understanding of the younger generation's attitudes towards FM and thus provides administrators, department chairs and residency program directors with objective information regarding selection criteria and the students' perceptions of FM. We identified the disconnect between the selection criteria profiles and the perceptions of FM of students not inclined to pursue a residency in FM. This allowed for recommendations on how to possibly make FM more attractive to some of these students.

Keywords: Career choice; Family medicine; Medical education; Medical specialty; Medical students.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study received approval from the Institutional Review Board of the Hadassah Medical Organization. The need for signed informed consent form was waived by the ethics committee.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Importance of Selection Criteria - Final Year Medical Students Interested in Family Medicine vs those Interested in Other Specialties
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Ethics of Fathers Chapter 2,1
    1. Phillips RL DM, Petterson S, et al. Specialty and Geographic Distribution of the Physician Workforce: What Influences Medical Student and Resident Choices? http://www.graham-center.org/dam/rgc/documents/publications-reports/mono.... 2009.
    1. Starfield B. Primary care: an increasingly important contributor to effectiveness, equity, and efficiency of health services. SESPAS report 2012. Gaceta sanitaria/SESPAS. 2012;26 Suppl 1:20-6.. - PubMed
    1. Chaklai Z, Ozeri R, Kreger S, Riba S, Shanon A. Ministry of Health Report. Manpower Medical Field: Information Branch; July 2010. https://www.israel-braingain.org.il/Uploads/Attachments/6675/%D7%9C%D7%9...
    1. OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affaires. OECD Health Statistics 2014 Online Database. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/health/healthdata.

LinkOut - more resources