ArticleAdvances in health sciences education : theory and practice2019
Sociological analysis of the medical field: using Bourdieu to understand the processes preceding medical doctors' specialty choice and the influence of perceived status and other forms of symbolic capital on their choices.
Article in Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Professional Segmentation as a Barrier to Reform in Turkish Nursing.Nursing inquiry · 2026Article
- Medical and health science students' interpretation of miscommunication in simulated scenarios: the role of language, gender, and perceived professional authority.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- What Should Primary Prevention in Burnout Look Like? Promoting Attributes, Roles and Social Networks with Instrumental Outcomes.Medical science educator · 2025Article
- The complex interplay of personal and external factors in medical students' specialty decision-making: A qualitative study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Capital sharing and socialization in an interprofessional student-led clinic: a Bourdieuan analysis.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- The Five-Dimension Patient Experience Model and Its Applications in Healthcare Using the Example of Spinal Cord Injury and COPD.Journal of patient experience · 2024Article
- How do foundation year and internship experience shape doctors' career intentions and decisions? A meta-ethnography.Medical teacher · 2023Article
- Understanding concepts of generalism and specialism amongst medical students at a research-intensive London medical school.BMC medical education · 2022Article
- A catalyst for change: Developing a collaborative reflexive ethnographic approach to research with hospital doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methodological innovations · 2022Article
- Migrant physicians' choice of employment and the medical specialty general practice: a mixed-methods study.Human resources for health · 2021Article
- A Realist Evaluation of Theory about Triggers for Doctors Choosing a Generalist or Specialist Medical Career.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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Abstract
Several studies have demonstrated that medical students and doctors rank specialties differently in terms of perceived status and prestige. At the same time some of the specialties have problems with recruiting and retaining staff. This study aimed to understand what constitutes status and prestige in the medical field and how it influences medical doctors' choice of specialty. By using a sociological perspective and applying Bourdieu's theoretical concepts of field, symbolic capital and perceived status, we analysed young doctors' journeys towards their chosen specialty. We conducted 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed using content analysis. The findings suggest that medical specialties carry different social status. In the field of power, surgery is seen as the most prestigious of all specialties. However, in the future it might be a less attractive choice when young doctors tend to view their profession less as an identity and more like a job. For specialties perceived as low status, the challenge is to raise popularity by better describing to young doctors the characteristics and advantages of these specialties.
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