CJEM Articles: career choice
Displaying 1-3 of 3 results
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July
2011
13
4
Akram Arab, Ashley Brown, Audra Smallfield, Bradley Moffat, Danny Mendelsohn, Morgan Hillier, Robert Sedran, Shelley McLeod
Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess medical students' knowledge of and attitudes toward the two Canadian emergency medicine (EM) residency programs (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada [FRCPC] and Certificant of the College of Family Physicians-Emergency Medicine [CCFP-EM]). Additionally, medical students interested in EM were asked to select factors affecting their preferred choice of residency training program and their intended future practice.
Methods: Medical students enrolled at The University of Western Ontario for the 2008–2009 academic year were invited to complete an online 47-item questionnaire pertaining to their knowledge, opinions, and attitudes toward EM residency training.
Results: Of the 563 students invited to participate, 406 (72.1%) completed the survey. Of the respondents, 178 (43.8%) expressed an interest in applying to an EM residency training program, with 85 (47.8%) most interested in applying to the CCFP-EM program.
The majority of respondents (54.1%) interested in EM believed that there should be two streams to EM certification, whereas 18.0% disagreed. Family life and control over work schedule appeared to be common priorities seen as benefits of any career in EM. Other high-ranking factors influencing career choice differed between the groups interested in CCFP-EM and FRCPC. The majority of students interested in the CCFP-EM residency program (78%) reported that they intend to blend their EM with their family medicine practice. Only 2% of students planned to practice only EM with no family medicine.
Conclusions: This is the first survey of Canadian medical students to describe disparities in factors influencing choice of EM residency stream, perceptions of postgraduate work life, and anticipated practice environment. -
May
2009
11
3
Bruce J. Wright, Fraser R. Brenneis, Ian M. Scott, Margot C. Gowans, Riyad B. Abu-Laban
Background: Studies indicate that a student's career interest at medical school entry is related to his or her ultimate career. We sought to determine the level of interest in emergency medicine among students at the time of medical school entry, and to describe characteristics associated with students primarily interested in emergency medicine.
Methods: We surveyed students in 18 medical school classes from 8 Canadian universities between 2001 and 2004 at the commencement of their studies. Participants listed their top career choice and the degree to which a series of variables influenced their choices. We also collected demographic data.
Results: Of 2420 surveys distributed, 2168 (89.6%) were completed. A total of 6.1% (95% confidence interval 5.1%-7.1%) of respondents cited emergency medicine as their first career choice. When compared with students primarily interested in family medicine, those primarily interested in emergency medicine reported a greater influence of hospital orientation and a lesser influence of social orientation on their career choice. When compared with students primarily interested in the surgical specialties, those primarily interested in emergency medicine were more likely to report medical lifestyle and varied scope of practice as important influences. When compared with students primarily interested in the medical specialties, those who reported interest in emergency medicine were more likely to report that a hospital orientation and varied scope of practice were important influences, and less likely to report that social orientation was important.
Conclusion: Students primarily interested in emergency medicine at medical school entry have attributes that differentiate them from students primarily interested in family medicine, the surgical specialties or the medical specialties. These findings may help guide future initiatives regarding emergency medicine education.
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April
2001
3
2
Amin Antoine Kazzi, Delaram Ghadishah, Mark I. Langdorf, Neal Handly
Introduction: Although some studies have tried to assess the factors leading to choice of specialty, none have been specific to emergency medicine (EM). With a doubling of the number of EM residency programs in the past decade, an assessment of the career motivations of residents is in order.
Objectives: To identify and rank the factors that lead candidates to choose EM as a career.
Methods: Fifty-four participating EM programs returned a total of 393 anonymous surveys completed by their 1996 National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) interviewees. The survey asked respondents to rank 12 factors on a 5-point (0-4) Likert scale.
Results: Respondents ranked the 12 motivating factors in the following descending order of importance: diversity in clinical pathology, emphasis on acute care, flexibility in choice of practice location, flexibility of EM work schedules, previous work experience in EM, greater availability of EM faculty for bedside teaching, strong influence of an EM faculty advisor or mentor, relatively shorter length of training, better salaries for EM than for primary care specialties, the presence of an EM residency at the student's medical school, perception that EM residents have more time to moonlight and popularity of EM among medical students.
Conclusion: US applicants appear to choose a career in EM largely because of clinical factors (diversity of clinical pathology and emphasis on acute care) and practice-related factors (flexibility in practice location and schedule).
