Paper
Written by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr.
Public
health:
- Choice of public health as a career occurs late after qualification[1].
- The proportion of students ending up in public health careers is higher than the proportion who expressed interest during medical school an indication that there are other factors operating in public health career choices[2].
General
practice:
- A national survey in France showed low interest in general practice and increasing feminization of the profession[3].
- Choice of general practice tracks were influenced by: 'Patient orientation'[4].
- Older students in New Zealand differed from direct entry from school in a higher proportion taking up general practice as a specialty[5].
Primary care:
- Financial pressures after graduation were a disincentive for choosing a career in primary care[6].
- Factors of choice of primary care were: interest in underserved populations, relationships with patients, scope of practice, and role models important in their career choice. Salary and competitiveness were "not at all" important.[7].
- International health electives influenced choice of a career in primary health care and public health[8].
Community medicine, family medicine, and
geriatrics:
- Canadian students had poor understanding of community medicine and had several misconceptions: irrelevant to clinical practice, no exclusive specialty, poor understanding of its role [9]
- Students know income by specialty quite early in their career and their knowledge that family medicine has low income acted as a disincentive[10].
- Positive attitude to the elderly and female gender determined choice of geriatrics in Singapore[11],[12].
Rural
practice:
- Factors that predicted rural practice for graduates of an American medical college were: growing up rural, planning rural practice, and planning family medicine[13].
- A special program in Australia encouraged students to choose rural practice[14]. A longer rural clerkship increased choice of a rural career[15].
- Clinical attachments encouraged US students to choose rural careers[16].
- Medical students in Malawi from small towns and rural areas tended to work in rural areas[17].
References
