Table 3.
Comparison of MS cohort responses to matrix questions about career choices
| |
|
Cohort 1 (MS1/MS3) |
Cohort 2 (MS2/MS4) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Items | MS1 T1 | MS1 T2 | MS1 T3 | p | MS2 T2 | MS2 T2 | MS4 T3 | p | |
|
How important are the following factors in considering your career in medicine? | |||||||||
| Opportunities to make a difference in people’s lives |
4.89 |
4.88 |
4.71 |
.003** |
4.83 |
4.83 |
4.66 |
NS |
|
| Intellectual climate |
4.41 |
4.41 |
4.23 |
.067 |
4.52 |
4.47 |
4.13 |
<.001** |
|
| Desire to do primary care |
3.04 |
3.03 |
3.04 |
NS |
2.74 |
2.75 |
2.88 |
NS |
|
| Availability of jobs |
3.55 |
3.54 |
4.26 |
<.001** |
3.86 |
3.84 |
3.90 |
NS |
|
| Job security |
3.80 |
3.80 |
4.40 |
<.001** |
4.03 |
4.00 |
4.30 |
NS |
|
| Opportunity to help patients who are socially disadvantaged |
4.71 |
4.15 |
3.84 |
.024* |
3.89 |
3.90 |
3.51 |
.020* |
|
| Desire to serve my community |
4.42 |
4.39 |
4.23 |
.033* |
4.32 |
4.33 |
3.66 |
<.001** |
|
| High income potential |
2.82 |
2.82 |
3.45 |
<.001** |
3.36 |
3.32 |
3.25 |
NS |
|
| Job satisfaction |
4.76 |
4.77 |
4.84 |
NS |
4.75 |
4.77 |
4.78 |
NS |
|
| Status of physicians |
2.69 |
2.65 |
2.84 |
NS |
2.97 |
2.86 |
2.80 |
NS |
|
|
How important are the following factors in considering your choice for a specialty? | |||||||||
| Income expectations for the specialty |
2.81 |
2.76 |
3.43 |
<.001** |
3.27 |
3.23 |
3.15 |
NS |
|
| Amount of education debt I have |
2.81 |
2.83 |
3.30 |
.012* |
3.04 |
2.99 |
3.09 |
NS |
|
| Ability to balance my work life with my family responsibilities |
4.37 |
4.38 |
4.53 |
NS |
4.62 |
4.60 |
4.44 |
NS |
|
| Content of the specialty |
4.69 |
4.71 |
4.59 |
NS |
4.70 |
4.69 |
4.70 |
NS |
|
| Competitiveness of the specialty |
3.13 |
3.11 |
2.91 |
NS |
3.07 |
3.06 |
2.74 |
.096 |
|
| Options for fellowship training associated with the specialty |
3.25 |
3.24 |
3.51 |
NS |
3.47 |
3.40 |
3.58 |
NS |
|
| Length of residency training associated with the specialty |
3.18 |
3.17 |
3.48 |
NS |
3.44 |
3.48 |
2.98 |
.007** |
|
| The lifestyle of the specialty I am considering |
4.20 |
4.20 |
4.36 |
NS |
4.42 |
4.38 |
4.16 |
.066 |
|
| Prestige of the specialty I am considering |
2.20 |
2.14 |
2.41 |
NS |
2.49 |
2.42 |
2.59 |
NS |
|
| Career workshops and courses |
2.66 |
2.63 |
2.71 |
NS |
2.53 |
2.47 |
2.36 |
NS |
|
| Opportunities to do research in this specialty |
2.58 |
2.57 |
3.37 |
NS |
2.42 |
2.38 |
3.10 |
NS |
|
| Opportunities to provide care to underserved populations |
3.43 |
3.41 |
3.37 |
NS |
3.28 |
3.28 |
3.10 |
NS |
|
|
Attitudes toward primary care | |||||||||
| I would like to become a primary care doctor in the future |
3.12 |
3.11 |
3.13 |
.079 |
2.97 |
3.13 |
2.62 |
.036* |
|
| I am more interested in learning the skills required for my chosen specialty rather than a general set of clinical practice skills. |
2.79 |
2.75 |
2.69 |
.001** |
2.82 |
2.69 |
3.45 |
.001** |
|
| Primary care knowledge is useful for all medical students. |
4.75 |
4.75 |
4.70 |
NS |
4.68 |
4.70 |
4.75 |
NS |
|
| Primary care should be a patient’s first contact with the health care system. |
4.39 |
4.38 |
4.68 |
NS |
4.36 |
4.68 |
4.47 |
.007** |
|
| Medical interviewing is a fundamental tool for all medical students to learn |
4.89 |
4.92 |
4.87 |
NS |
4.83 |
4.87 |
4.88 |
NS |
|
| Preventative care knowledge is essential for all medical students to learn. |
4.83 |
4.85 |
4.70 |
NS |
4.53 |
4.70 |
4.67 |
<.001** |
|
| It is essential that medical students learn how to best communicate with patients. |
4.89 |
4.91 |
4.89 |
NS |
4.86 |
4.89 |
4.87 |
NS |
|
| Primary care doctors mostly manage chronic health problems. |
3.26 |
3.25 |
389 |
NS |
3.79 |
3.89 |
3.81 |
<.001** |
|
| It is impossible to be an expert in such a wide field as primary care. |
2.69 |
2.69 |
2.97 |
.069 |
3.01 |
2.98 |
3.31 |
.001** |
|
| Primary care is not very intellectually stimulating. |
1.90 |
1.91 |
2.47 |
.057 |
2.22 |
2.47 |
2.58 |
<.001** |
|
| Primary care doctors have a large work overload. |
3.63 |
3.63 |
4.15 |
NS |
3.95 |
4.15 |
4.05 |
<.001** |
|
| Primary care doctors are poorly valued by the rest of the medical profession. |
3.48 |
3.49 |
3.78 |
NS |
3.76 |
3.78 |
3.77 |
.036* |
|
| A primary care doctor is clinically competent to provide most of the health care an individual may require. | 3.96 | 3.94 | 4.36 | .003** | 3.99 | 4.36 | 4.36 | <.001** | |
*Significant at the 0.05 level. **Significant at the 0.01 level. Likert Scale (1 = ’Not important at all’; 5 = ’Very Important’). Differences tested via Kruskall-Wallis test; p below 0.10 displayed; NS = Not Significant. Values equal to or less than p = .10 shown.