BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Our objectives were to provide an update on the status of selection by medical students of family medicine as a specialty, to summarize what is known about influences on this specialty choice, and to propose a research agenda for the future. METHODS Data from the National Resident Matching Program and the American Academy of Family Physicians residency database were ...

BACKGROUND Students' selection of a specialty is an important decision in their career as a physician. While distinguishing primary care physicians from non-primary care specialists has served a purpose for how medicine is practiced and managed, considering alternative ways of grouping specialties is appropriate when exploring specialty decisions. PURPOSE This study explored how early special...

BACKGROUND Multiple factors influence the decision to enter a career in medicine and choose a specialty. Previous studies have looked at personality differences in medicine but often were unable to describe the heterogeneity that exists within each specialty. Our study used a person-centered approach to characterize the complex relations between the personality profiles of resident physicians a...

BACKGROUND This study explores the most influential factors affecting Saudi medical students and interns' choice of specialty at the University of Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. METHODS A self-administered questionnaire was distributed during the period from June 1 to June 14, 2013. Chi-square test and logistic regression were used to test the association between participants' choices and t...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES This study's purpose was to evaluate the relationship between medical student debt and primary care specialty choice, while examining the potentially confounding effects of family income and race/ethnicity. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was offered to all students at three medical schools between 2006 and 2008. The survey assessed students' anticipated educational...

INTRODUCTION  Student-run free clinics (SRFCs) are a recent popular addition to medical school education, and a subset of studies has looked at the influence of SRFC volunteering on the medical student's career development. The majority of the research done in this area has focused on understanding if these SRFCs produce physicians who are more likely to practice medicine in underserved communi...