Why does an undergraduate student choose medicine as a career.
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Date
2013-05
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Abstract
Background. There are more than 44 000 seats in over
350 medical colleges in India for pursuing the MBBS course.
This is not enough as we have only 1 doctor for as many as
1953 persons in India. Yet, medicine is not among the top
vocations in most career advisories and the best school
students do not aspire to be doctors.
Methods. This cross-sectional study was done at a tertiary
care, teaching hospital in March 2010. Medical students in
their second semester were asked to fill an indigenously
designed, structured questionnaire, looking at their reasons for
joining the course, interpersonal relationships, satisfaction
with the curriculum and future prospects following graduation.
Results. The mean (SD) age of the students was 19.2
(0.85) years. Of the 100 students of second semester, 41 had
been influenced by a family member in choosing their career.
Twelve felt that medicine would give them a chance to serve
the society. Forty-six students felt that the expectations they
had from the course before joining were not being fulfilled.
Nearly one-third of the students (31) stated that they would
not choose medicine as a career if given another chance.
Further, 19 said that they would still choose a different
profession after completing their graduation. Non-fulfilment
of expectations from the course was associated with the belief
that they would not opt for this course if given a second chance
(likelihood ratio 7.12, p=0.008). Students felt that teaching
should lay stress on problem-based learning including workshops
on stress and time management.
Conclusion. We find that several students do not have a
defined career plan and opt for a career in medicine because
they are influenced by family members. Some students were
dissatisfied with the curriculum and expressed that they would
not like to pursue the course if given a second chance.
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PRUTHI SONAL, PANDEY RAVI, SINGH SATENDRA, AGGARWAL AMITESH, RAMAVAT ANURAG, GOEL ASHISH. Why does an undergraduate student choose medicine as a career. National Medical Journal of India. 2013 May-Jun ; 26 (3): 147-149.