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Career choices of today’s medical students: where does surgery rank?

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Abstract

Introduction

The national junior doctor recruitment crisis prompts an appraisal of medical student attitudes to different career pathways. The purpose of this study was to perform a national review of surgical career intentions of Irish final year medical students.

Methods

Ethical and institutional approval was obtained at each study location. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to final year students. Domains assessed included demographics, career plans and reasons associated. Anonymised responses were collated and evaluated. Categorical data were compared with Fisher’s exact test.

Results

Responses were obtained from 342 students in four medical schools of whom 78.6 % were undergraduates. Over half (53 %) were Irish, with Malaysia, Canada and the USA the next most common countries of origin. Only 18 % of students intended to pursue surgery, with 60 % stating they did not plan to, and 22 % undecided. Of those who plan not to pursue surgery, 28 % were unsure about a speciality but the most common choices were medicine (39 %), general practice (16 %) and paediatrics (8 %). Reasons for not picking a career in surgery included long hours and the unstructured career path. Suggestions to improve uptake included earlier and more practical exposure to surgery, improved teaching/training and reduction in working hours.

Conclusions

In this study 18 % of final year medical students identified surgery as their chosen career pathway. Although lifestyle factors are significant in many students’ decision, perceived quality and duration of surgical training were also relevant and are modifiable factors which, if improved could increase interest in surgery as a career.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the students who participated in the survey.

Conflicts of interest

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Entry Medical School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    E. Boyle, D. Healy, P. Coyle, S. R. Walsh & J. C. Coffey

  2. Department of Surgery, RCSI and Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont, Dublin 8, Ireland

    A. D. K. Hill & S. McHugh

  3. Surgical Professorial Unit, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin, Ireland

    P. R. O’Connell

  4. Department of Surgery, University Hospital, National University College Galway, Galway, Ireland

    M. Kerin & J. Kelly

Authors
  1. E. Boyle
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  2. D. Healy
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  3. A. D. K. Hill
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  4. P. R. O’Connell
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  5. M. Kerin
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  6. S. McHugh
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  7. P. Coyle
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  8. J. Kelly
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  9. S. R. Walsh
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  10. J. C. Coffey
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Correspondence to J. C. Coffey.

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Boyle, E., Healy, D., Hill, A.D.K. et al. Career choices of today’s medical students: where does surgery rank?. Ir J Med Sci 182, 337–343 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-012-0882-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-012-0882-x

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