University of Washington medical school graduates' (n=519) practice specialties were compared with the one or more indicated earlier as possible choices. Nearly 70 percent remained stable, double the proportion when stability is based on a single choice at medical school entry, suggesting students consider several possibilities and choose one of…

A longitudinal study of 175 students entering the University of Maryland Medical School in 1982 found initial specialty preference a poor predictor of later specialty choice, and intolerance of ambiguity was not significantly associated with either initial medical specialty preferences or choices at graduation despite dramatic specialty changes…

A study of 11,136 1987 medical school seniors' specialty choices, before entering medical school and in preparation for residency, found similar preferences at both points, regardless of racial-ethnic background. (Author/MSE)

Five medical school characteristics previously identified as related to choice of family practice as a specialty were examined, with tuition level, for relationship to specialty choice among U.S. medical graduates between July 1986 and December 1987. Only two of the factors were found to be statistically relevant. (Author/MSE)

A rigorous approach to conducting nonstatistical meta-analyses of research literature is presented and illustrated in a study of literature on primary care medical specialty choice. The approach described includes model development, literature retrieval and coding, quality rating, annotation of high-quality references, and synthesizing the subset…

A study investigated relationships between specialty choice, success in obtaining residency choice, race (particularly underrepresented minorities), and gender among 14,450 medical residency matching program participants. Patterns of specialty switching after the first year of residency were also examined. Detailed tables of results and…

Analysis of data from an annual graduating medical students' survey revealed that a required third-year family medicine clerkship of at least four weeks is associated with a higher percentage of students choosing training and specialty certification in family practice. Whether clerkship inspires or reinforces preexisting choices is not indicated.…

A survey of 723 medical school graduates investigated motivations for early specialty selections and later changes and factors involved in current specialty choice. Perceived match of personality and specialty, technology and methodology characteristic of specialty, and time for family were critical. Greater awareness of career lifestyles is…

Students were asked to state their selected specialty and to rank the importance that each of 25 influences listed on a questionnaire had in making their specialty choice. Selected specialties were classified into three groups: noncontrollable lifestyle, controllable lifestyle, and surgery. (MLW)

Dartmouth Medical School has developed two career planning programs using graduates, decreasing the specialty practice information gap commonly facing medical students. One is a series of non-credit mini-elective courses providing one to three days' experience in a practitioner's office. The other is a career day for first- and second-year…

The usefulness of the Glaxo Pathway Evaluation Program, a program of workshops to help medical students choose specialties, was evaluated in a survey of 237 participating seniors. Students found the program moderately useful. The researchers found the program a useful, comprehensive, and reasonably objective tool. Long-term effects were not…

An attempt to replicate a previous study suggesting the dimension of intimacy-isolation predicts medical student speciality choice by using a new generation of medical students (N=203) and a new generation of well-validated personality measures failed to find support for the hypothesis. (MLW)

A study investigated, first, the percentage of medical students maintaining interest in obstetrics/gynecology during medical school compared to those maintaining interest in other specialties and, second, changes of interest from obstetrics/gynecology to other specialties and other specialties to obstetrics/gynecology. Results indicate instability…

A study assessed borrowing patterns of 3,495 indebted medical students at Thomas Jefferson University (Pennsylvania) in relation to changes in cost of education, parents' income, availability of grant funding, legislative changes to loan eligibility criteria, and average interest rates on federal unsubsidized loans. Results show students borrow…

A study of medical students' pre-medical-school and graduation specialty preferences examined sex differences in selection of pediatrics at both points and changes from preference for pediatrics. Half those abandoning early preference for pediatrics stayed within primary care. More shifted from family practice to pediatrics than kept their…