Effect of a clerkship on students' attitudes toward practice problems and preventive care

The authors compared the attitudes of men and women junior medical students at one medical school before and after completing the surgery clerkship. The attitudes surveyed pertained to the students' confidence in dealing with problems in the doctor-patient relationship, concerns about future practice, and attitudes about preventive care. The women and men differed in only one career preference, with more women than men choosing obstetrics-gynecology. The class as a whole had more positive attitudes in all three areas after the clerkship. The men and women did not differ before or after the clerkship in their confidence in handling problems in the doctor-patient relationship. The women, however, had higher levels of concern than the men about preventive care after the clerkship. Although the men and women overall entered the clerkship with similar attitudes, the women left the surgical clerkship with more positive attitudes overall but also with more concerns about future practice than the men. Because of the demands made on students' time during the surgery clerkship, some women students may become concerned about conflicts that could arise from balancing career roles and homemaker roles, and they may need support at this time in dealing with these concerns.