ArticleNeurology. Clinical practice2021
Longitudinal Qualitative Study of Career Decision-making of First-Year Medical Students: Why Neurology (or Not)?
Article in Neurology. Clinical practice, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Employment Decisions of Newly Graduated Occupational Therapists.Canadian journal of occupational therapy. Revue canadienne d'ergotherapie · 2025Article
- The Historical Case for a Strong and Diverse Neurology Clerkship Leadership Team.Neurology. Education · 2024Article
- The First Issue: Innovations in Teaching, Assessment, and Developing a Robust Educational Pipeline in Clinical Neuroscience.Neurology. Education · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe growing shortage of neurologists is in part due to suboptimal recruitment. Little is known about students' decision making regarding a career in neurology, particularly early in training. Using a longitudinal qualitative approach, we aimed to understand factors that influence first-year medical students' decisions about neurology.
methodsWe conducted 1-on-1 semistructured interviews with 15 first-year medical students at 1 institution before and after the preclinical neurology course (2018-2019). In the first interview, we asked about career intentions, factors likely to influence specialty choice, and perceptions of neurology. In the second interview, we asked about changes in students' views over the year. Using thematic analysis, we generated codes and clustered coded data into themes.
resultsThe 2 most prominent factors influencing career choice in general were lifestyle and personal interest. No students expressed concerns about lifestyle in neurology. Most students were neutral about neurology or had a positive personal interest, which typically increased after the neurology course. Students frequently worried about content difficulty and the curative potential of neurology.
conclusionsInterventions should include early education about the factors important to students in determining specialty choice, including lifestyle, and address potentially negative perceptions of neurology. Increasing time allotment to the preclinical neurology course may combat perception of the content as difficult.
Identifiers
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Registered trials
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