Correspondence (letter to the editor): Similar Results

We have read the original article by Gibis et al. with interest. For the subject areas “compatibility of work and family life” and “career aspirations,” this nationwide survey showed similar results to a survey conducted by our working group from the Baden-Württemberg General Practice Competence Center (1– 3). This survey was conducted among medical students in the state of Baden-Württemberg (n=12 062, response rate 11%) with a validated questionnaire (1). In contrast to the study reported by Gibis et al, this questionnaire provides only a single-choice answer to the question of which specialty the respondent wants to embark on. The six most popular specialties were internal medicine (11.7%), gynecology (9.8%), pediatrics (9.6%), surgery (8.9%), anesthesiology (7.8%, and general practice (6.8%).

A comparison of the surveys shows a clear overlap of the top positions, with our data showing notably more students with an interest in gynecology and fewer for general practice. On the other hand, the comparison with the results of our study also entails a possibility of misinterpretation of the study data reported by Gibis et al., which results from the study method (multiple responses allowed for the specialty of choice). Altogether, as the presented data suggest, we can certainly expect far fewer interested students for the different specialties. The proportions for the specialty of choice in our data were all below 11%—not enough to meet demand in the main specialties.

All specialties should work in equal measures to present their discipline as attractive at the universities and to entice future generations of doctors into posts accordingly. Especially for general practice this is a competition with a handicap if one remembers that to date, only half of all medical faculties in Germany actually hold a chair for general practice.