ArticleBMC family practice2011
Becoming a general practitioner--which factors have most impact on career choice of medical students?
Article in BMC family practice, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Factors influencing subspecialty choice among medical students: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2019Pooled it
- Article
- Dynamics of career attractiveness and preferences among Swiss medical students: an observational study at the end of the master's program.Medical education online · 2025Observational
- How gender shapes practice choices among family medicine residents and early career family physicians: a Canadian qualitative study.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Article
- Defining the student perspective on radiation oncology-an analysis of factors influencing medical students' decisions for specialized training.Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al] · 2025Article
- Observational
- Article
- Factors influencing medical students career intentions in Flanders, Estonia, and Hungary: a multivariable analysis.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Early-career general practitioners' career intentions in Estonia: A qualitative study.The European journal of general practice · 2024Article
- Factors influencing the choice of specialization - a cross-sectional study with civilian medical students and prospective medical officers in Germany.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- How can we help doctors stay in rural areas of Japan? A comparison in medical students' attitudes toward general practice and clinical research of a medical school in Japan and in Sweden.Journal of rural medicine : JRM · 2024Article
- Job satisfaction criteria to improve general practitioner recruitment: a Delphi consensus.Family practice · 2024Article
- Factors associated with medical students' career choice in different specialties: a multiple cross-sectional questionnaire study at a German medical school.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- Changes in the attractiveness of medical careers and career determinants during the bachelor's program at Zurich medical schools.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- Perceptions of final-year medical students and interns toward pursuing a career in critical care medicine.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- The determining factors of medical students in considering a specialty as a future career path: A cross-sectional multinational study in the Middle East.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2023Article
- German first-year medical students' expectations of their professional life - concerns and hopes: A project report.GMS journal for medical education · 2023Article
- Medical students' attitudes towards and views of general practice careers in Singapore: a cross-sectional survey and qualitative analysis.BMC medical education · 2022Article
- Students' motivation in choosing general practice for their career pathway: a middle-income country report, Indonesia.International journal of medical education · 2022Review
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn Germany, there is a shortage of young physicians in several specialties, the situation of general practitioners (GP) being especially precarious. The factors influencing the career choice of German medical students are poorly understood. This study aims to identify factors influencing medical students' specialty choice laying a special focus on general practice.
methodsThe study was designed as a cross-sectional survey. In 2010, students at the five medical schools in the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg (Germany) filled out an online-questionnaire. On 27 items with 5-point Likert scales, the students rated the importance of specified individual and occupational aspects. Furthermore, students were asked to assign their intended medical specialty.
results1,299 students participated in the survey. Thereof, 1,114 students stated a current choice for a specialty, with 708 students choosing a career in one of the following 6 specialties: internal medicine, surgery, gynaecology and obstetrics, paediatrics, anaesthetics and general practice. Overall, individual aspects ('Personal ambition', 'Future perspective', 'Work-life balance') were rated as more important than occupational aspects (i.e. 'Variety in job', 'Job-related ambition') for career choice. For students favouring a career as a GP individual aspects and the factor 'Patient orientation' among the occupational aspects were significantly more important and 'Job-related ambition' less important compared to students with other specialty choices.
conclusionsThis study confirms that future GPs differ from students intending to choose other specialties particularly in terms of patient-orientation and individual aspects such as personal ambition, future perspective and work-life balance. Improving job-conditions in terms of family compatibility and work-life balance could help to increase the attractiveness of general practice. Due to the shortage of GPs those factors should be made explicit at an early stage at medical school to increase the number of aspirants for general practice.
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Registered trials
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