ArticleInternational journal of medical education2025
What supports applicants' reasons for becoming physicians: a thematic analysis of their beliefs and statements.
Article in International journal of medical education, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Objectives: To address the problem of medical school applicants' lying about their reasons for becoming physicians in the admissions process, this study aims to explore the grounds for their reasons by distinguishing between their beliefs and statements. Methods: The participants, recruited by convenience sampling, were 15 medical students and physicians who had entered graduate-entry programs of medical schools in Japan. We conducted individual semi-structured online interviews in 2020 and performed a reflexive thematic analysis. Results: We generated five themes regarding the grounds for applicants' reasons in their beliefs: consistency with past interests, experience of being underprivileged, experience of family disease, parental influence, and no grounds; four themes regarding the grounds for applicants' true reasons in their statements: consistency with actual past interests, actual experience of being underprivileged, actual experience of family disease, and actual experience of being powerless for patients; and four themes regarding the grounds for applicants' untrue reasons in their statements: consistency with actual or fictional past interests, actual experience of family disease, fictional parental influence, and convenient origin. Conclusions: This study is the first to distinguish between applicants' beliefs and statements and analyze the grounds for their reasons for becoming physicians. The findings propose a reconstruction of the concept of reasons for becoming physicians and suggest that admissions committees may be able to verify applicants' reasons in their statements by asking them to present the grounds for them.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.