Table 1.
Covariates and their categories as defined in the models
| COVARIATE | CATEGORIES |
|---|---|
| Age | Continuous |
| Sex | Female, male |
| Language | English, French |
| Marital status | Married or living with partner, single, separated or divorced, widowed |
| Environment before university | Exclusively or predominantly rural, exclusively or predominantly small town, exclusively or predominantly urban, mixture of environments |
| Born in Canada | Yes, no |
| Father’s education (degree or diploma) | No diploma, no university diploma, undergraduate diploma, graduate diploma |
| Mother’s education (degree or diploma) | No diploma, no university diploma, undergraduate diploma, graduate diploma |
| Are any of your immediate family members working in medically related jobs? | |
| • Father | MD, other, NR or NA |
| • Mother | MD, other, NR or NA |
| • Siblings | MD, other, NR or NA |
| Last academic degree before MD program | No university diploma, college, bachelor, master, PhD, other diploma |
| Province of medical school | Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland |
| Timing of decision to become a doctor | Before high school, during high school, during undergraduate studies, after undergraduate studies, during or after graduate studies, other |
| Of all of the possible careers, what led you to select medicine? | |
| • Mentor | Yes, no |
| • Family | Yes, no |
| • Intellectual stimulation or challenge | Yes, no |
| • Earning potential | Yes, no |
| • Doctor-patient relationship | Yes, no |
| • Research opportunities | Yes, no |
| • Teaching opportunities | Yes, no |
| • Prestige | Yes, no |
| To what extent do you agree that your medical training program has prepared you to select a residency training program? | Strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree |
| At this time, in which of the following do you hope to be involved? | |
| • Patient care | Yes, no, unsure |
| • Research | Yes, no, unsure |
| • Administration | Yes, no, unsure |
| • Public health | Yes, no, unsure |
| What factors do you think will be most important in having a satisfying and successful medical practice? | |
| • Flexible work hours | Yes, no |
| • Availability of continuing education resources | Yes, no |
| • Opportunities for research | Yes, no |
| • Opportunities for teaching | Yes, no |
| • Balance between practice and personal life | Yes, no |
| • Sufficient medical competence | Yes, no |
| • Ability to achieve desired income | Yes, no |
| How would you prefer to be paid for your services as a physician? | Blended, capitation, salary, service contract, seasonal or hourly, fee-for-services only, unsure |
| Expected debt upon completion of medical school (directly related to being in medical school) | No debt, < $20 000, $20 000–$80 000, > $80 000, not provided |
| To pay off the debt directly related to being in medical school, do you intend to do any of the following? | |
| • Select a short residency program | Yes, no |
| • Select a specialty you believe will have high earning potential | Yes, no |
| Stress of financial situation | Extremely stressful, very stressful, fairly stressful, minimally stressful, not stressful |
NA—not applicable, NR—no response.