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Factors Influencing a Medical Student’s Decision to Pursue Surgery as a Career

World Journal of Surgery volume 43, pages 2986–2993 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Recent match trends from the National Resident Matching Program suggest that the number of allopathic medical students (MD) pursuing general surgery is declining. This decline may have profound consequences given the surgeon shortage predicted by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Early exposure to surgery opportunities may increase a student’s desire to pursue the specialty as a career. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect surgical activities have on promoting student interest in surgery.

Methods

Medical students (years 1–3) at the University of Illinois at Rockford completed a two-component activity: a questionnaire and laparoscopic box activity. Differences in lifestyle factors, psychomotor aptitude, and future career interests were compared.

Results

A total of 64 medical students completed the activity. 45.3% of students reported that the activity positively influenced their decision to pursue a career in surgery. Rating of the importance of living in a rural versus urban community was an important lifestyle factor (p = 0.01) for students without rather than with an interest in surgery, 3.95 and 3.19, respectively. No differences were observed in other lifestyle factors.

Conclusion

Early exposure to surgical activities may foster interest in students who lacked previous intention to pursue the specialty.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all students who agreed to participate in this study. Special thanks to Drs. Mark Zarnke and Michael McCarthy for reviewing the functionality of the laparoscopic box trainer.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Jarod Shelton, Michael Obregon, Jessica Luo, and Oren Feldman-Schultz have contributed equally to the project.

Affiliations

  1. University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, 1601 Parkview Ave, Rockford, IL, 61107, USA

    Jarod Shelton, Michael Obregon, Jessica Luo, Oren Feldman-Schultz & Martin MacDowell

  2. Department Family and Community Medicine and National Center for Rural Health Professions, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, Rockford, IL, USA

    Martin MacDowell

Authors
  1. Jarod Shelton
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  2. Michael Obregon
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  3. Jessica Luo
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  5. Martin MacDowell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jarod Shelton.

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268_2019_5167_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

41-item questionnaire available to all UI-Rockford students from January 2019 to April 2019. The survey included demographic, surgical exposure, prior laparoscopic instrument use, thoughts of pursuing surgery as a career, psychomotor aptitude, future specialty and lifestyle expectation questions. Demographic, future specialty, and lifestyle expectation questions were based on the 2018 Association of American Medical Colleges’ Medical School Graduation Questionnaire [11]. All other questions were developed by the investigators, and the survey was reviewed by two senior surgeons related to content and question format (PDF 239 kb)

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Shelton, J., Obregon, M., Luo, J. et al. Factors Influencing a Medical Student’s Decision to Pursue Surgery as a Career. World J Surg 43, 2986–2993 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-019-05167-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-019-05167-9