What do students find attractive about the practice of medicine? A pattern of stability over time

There is little consensus about the stability or instability of medical students career preferences during their time in college. These two studies found little change in their perception of the attractiveness of aspects of medical work which may be related to their final career choice. In the first study three successive cohorts of students in a London medical school completed questionnaires about the attractiveness of various medical job-attributes. Each cohort was tested twice such that the pattern of testing covered the entire course. Only data from students who were present at both test sessions were used for the longitudinal study. Comparisons with students in other London schools indicated that the study groups were representative of all London medical students. The second study was cross-sectional comparing final year data from 1983 and 1991 at three London medical schools. The first study results suggest that students enter medical school with values and opinions about their work which remain, on the whole, unchanged until they leave. There were significant decreases in the attractiveness of four attributes, but none became significantly more attractive. The second study revealed little change, five attributes were significantly less attractive 8 years later. In both studies most of the changes related to organisational rather than patient-related attributes. This may reflect greater realism about doctors' work. Comparison of final years students' data with published data from the mid-seventies confirms the overall stability of these values. It is suggested that specialists could use this information to highlight the desirable aspects of their work and so 'sell' their discipline to students and newly qualified doctors.