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Choosing family medicine. What influences medical students?
John Jordan1, Judith Belle Brown, Grant Russell
1Department of Family Medicine, University of Western Ontario. jjordan@uwo.ca
Objective:
To explore factors that influence senior medical students to pursue careers in family medicine.
Design:
Qualitative study using semistructured interviews.
Setting:
University of Western Ontario (UWO) in London.
Participants:
Eleven of 29 graduating UWO medical students matched to Canadian family medicine residency programs beginning in July 2001.
Method:
Eleven semistructured interviews were conducted with a maximum variation sample of medical students. Interviews were transcribed and reviewed independently, and a constant comparative approach was used by the team to analyze the data.
Main Findings:
Family physician mentors were an important influence on participants' decisions to pursue careers in family medicine. Participants followed one of three pathways to selecting family medicine: from an early decision to pursue family medicine, from initial uncertainty about career choice, or from an early decision to specialize and a change of mind.
Conclusion:
The perception of a wide scope of practice attracts candidates to family medicine. Having more family medicine role models early in medical school might encourage more medical students to select careers in family medicine.
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