Occupational calling promotes career construction among medical students: empirical evidence for public health...

The sustainable development of a modern healthcare system relies not only on the provision of basic healthcare services but also on a stable reserve of future healthcare professionals. Medical students constitute an important source of the future healthcare workforce, and their career construction may influence the long-term stability of healthcare service provision. However, from the perspective of public health workforce development, existing empirical studies have primarily focused on external incentives, while relatively limited attention has been paid to the psychological factors shaping medical students' career construction. This study examined the relationship between occupational calling and career construction among medical students and further tested the mediating roles of teacher-student interaction and meaning in life. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among medical students from an undergraduate university and a vocational college in Zhuhai, China. After excluding invalid responses with missing or abnormal age information, 532 valid questionnaires were included in the final analysis. Validated scales were used to measure occupational calling, teacher-student interaction, meaning in life, career construction, and self-efficacy. The results showed that occupational calling significantly predicted teacher-student interaction, meaning in life, and career construction. Teacher-student interaction has a positive predictive effect on meaning in life and career construction. At the same time, the mediating analysis indicates that teacher-student interaction and meaning in life exert significant mediating effects, jointly influencing the relationship between occupational calling and career construction. These findings suggest that strengthening occupational calling, improving teacher-student interactions, and enhancing meaning in life are crucial for cultivating public health professionals and promoting career construction among medical students. Therefore, medical education should not only focus on increasing the number of future healthcare professionals but also strive to support their career development and foster their long-term commitment to serving the healthcare system.