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
. 2021 Sep 2:8:509-517.
doi: 10.1016/j.xjon.2021.08.035. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Understanding UK medical students' perspectives on a career in cardiothoracic surgery

Ariana Axiaq  1 , Renier A B Visser  2 , Manasi Shirke  1 , Arwa Khashkhusha  3 , Sara Zaidi  4 , Raneesha Pillay  5 , Christopher J Goulden  6 , Amer Harky  7   8   9 ; Career Research Collaboration
Collaborators, Affiliations

Understanding UK medical students' perspectives on a career in cardiothoracic surgery

Ariana Axiaq et al. JTCVS Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: The UK postgraduate training program in cardiothoracic surgery is challenging and competitive, with trainees choosing the field for different reasons. This study aims to identify factors that influence medical students in pursuing a career within cardiothoracic surgery.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in which a questionnaire was anonymously filled out by medical students across 17 medical schools in the United Kingdom. An online survey platform was used for survey distribution and analysis. A mixed-methods approach was employed to gather quantitative and qualitative data. Data collection consisted of a series of closed questions and 1 open-ended question. The questions focused on the attitudes toward, knowledge of, and exposure to cardiothoracic surgery.

Results: The survey yielded 265 responses. Interest in cardiothoracic surgery was seen in 45.3% of participants, with the leading factor for pursuing this career being lifestyle factors (50%), closely followed by the career opportunities (42.9%) and the aid of mentors (31%). Some discouraging factors were: Difficulty of learning material (37.7%), length of the training program (27.4%), competition in the field (26%), stress (24.3%), and lifestyle factors (22.1%).

Conclusions: Whilst UK medical schools try to provide an introduction to specialties like cardiothoracic surgery, there remains a proportion of medical students who do not have access to opportunities needed to make a balanced career decision. Additionally, individual circumstances and aspirations tend to change from students' first year of study to their final year, which can alter their perceptions about the field.

Keywords: CV, cardiovascular; PGY, postgraduate year; cardiothoracic surgery; career; interest; medical students; perception.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
None
Pie chart depicting the proportion of students choosing each specialty.
Figure 1
Figure 1
A summary of our study explaining the findings of survey results of 265 students among 17 medical schools in the United Kingdom (UK). We aimed to understand the knowledge and interest in cardiothoracic surgery speciality among the undergraduates. The study has identified several factors that can possibly be utilized for recruiting future cardiothoracic surgery (CTS) trainees.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A graph showing the percentage of participants with a primary interest in cardiothoracic surgery against the year group they are in. CTS, Cardiothoracic surgery.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Frequency of options chosen as to why the students are not interested in becoming cardiothoracic surgeons.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Graph depicting the frequency of options chosen as to why medical students are interested in pursuing a career in cardiothoracic (CT) surgery.
Figure 5
Figure 5
A graph showing undergraduate exposure to cardiothoracic surgery. The number of responses for each type of exposure is shown against each type of exposure.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Jokinen E. Obesity and cardiovascular disease. Minerva Pediatr. 2015;67:25–32. - PubMed
    1. Grover A., Gorman K., Dall T.M., Jonas R., Lytle B., Shemin R., et al. Shortage of cardiothoracic surgeons is likely by 2020. Circulation. 2009;120:488–494. - PubMed
    1. Coyan G.N., Kilic A., Gleason T.G., Schuchert M.J., Luketich J.D., Okusanya O., et al. Medical student perceptions of a career in cardiothoracic surgery: results of an institutional survey. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2020;159:1906–1912. - PubMed
    1. National Resident Matching Program Match results statistics, thoracic surgery fellowship. http://www.nrmp.org//fellow/match_name/throacic/stats.html Available at:
    1. Miller V.M., Padilla L.A., Swicord W.B., Burns Z.R., Sorabella R.A., Cleveland D.C., et al. Gender differences in cardiothoracic surgery interest among general surgery applicants. Ann Thorac Surg. 2021;112:961–967. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources