Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1
Medical students’ views of medicine as a calling by graduate medical education (GME) specialty.
a Total includes calling item respondents regardless of available GME specialty data. b Includes internal medicine and combined internal medicine/pediatrics GME specialty.
Tables
- Table 1
Odds of Selecting a Primary Care-Related Residency and the Medical Student’s View of Medicine as a Calling, Personal Characteristics, and Medical School Social Mission Ranking
Variable Primary Care-Related Residency (n = 257) No. (%) Unadjusted OR (95% CI) P Value Adjusted OR (95% CI) P Value Practice of medicine is a calling Strongly disagree/ disagree/neither agree nor disagree 32 (34) 1.00 [Reference] … 1.00 [Reference] … Agree 107 (45) 1.58 (0.97–2.60) .07 1.52 (0.92–2.52) .10 Strongly agree 118 (53) 2.26 (1.37–3.72) .001 2.16 (1.30–3.59) .003 Personal characteristics Male 115 (41) … … 1.00 [Reference] .08 Female 142 (51) … … 1.36 (0.96–1.93) Non-white 115 (51) … … 1.00 [Reference] .06 White 142 (43) … … 0.71 (0.50–1.01) Age (y) N/A … … 0.97 (0.91–1.03) .33 Medical school social mission rank Low (20 schools with lowest rank scores) 24 (34) … … 1.00 [Reference] Intermediate 194 (46) … … 1.70 (0.99–2.93) .06 High (20 schools with highest rank scores) 39 (57) … … 2.75 (1.35–5.59) .005 Note: Primary care-related residencies include family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency programs. Medical school social mission rank as determined by percentage of graduates who practice primary care, work in health professional shortage areas, and are underrepresented minorities.4
The Article in Brief
Medical Students' Views of Medicine as a Calling and Selection of a Primary Care-Related Residency
Audiey C. Kao , and colleagues
Background With the US health care system facing a primary care physician shortage, this study evaluates whether medical students who view medicine as a calling are more likely to enter a primary care (family medicine, internal medicine, or pediatrics) residency program.
What This Study Found Medical students who strongly believe that medicine is a calling are more likely than their counterparts to select a primary care residency. A survey of a random sample of 1,000 fourth-year allopathic and osteopathic medical students found that while most respondents saw the practice of medicine as a calling, those who strongly agreed had significantly greater odds of selecting a primary care-related residency.
Implications
- Fostering, or at least not undermining, a sense of calling among future physicians could be a strategy to help address the looming primary care physician shortage.
