Trends concerning a common medical school interview question, revisited

To assess the validity of asking prospective medical school students about their planned field of practice during their admissions interview at one United States allopathic medical school, and to compare and contrast the results with the results from a similar study conducted in 2004.

Anonymous one-page surveys were voluntarily filled out and immediately collected from matriculated freshman medical students who wished to participate in this Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved study.

Ninety five medical students voluntarily completed and returned the anonymous survey; 82 were filled out correctly. Of the 82 respondents, 32 were uncertain about the field of medicine they plan to pursue. Of the 50 remaining respondents who felt certain of their future direction, 58% (29/50) reported telling the truth when asked about their future direction during the admissions interview, 34% (17/50) were not completely forthcoming and truthful, and 8% (4/50) were not asked at all.

The findings of this study, along with the findings from our 2004 study, strongly suggest that asking prospective medical students during their medical school interview what type of medicine they wish to practice may not yield valid responses.