Abstract
Specialty choice is a major issue for medical students. The earliest studies on this topic presented an overview of specialties as an aid to students. The role of gender in particular is explored in studies of motivation. Balancing life and work is a second issue. Male and female students experience limitations in their choice because of the conflict between the demands of family and work. This is also one of the most obvious reasons why students change their choice of specialty. Factors related to organization also influence specialty choices. Some specialties are characterized by inflexible organization of care, while others allow work to be organized in relation to family duties. It is mostly women who face difficulties in the inflexible organization of care. Since doctors in the future are likely to be mostly female, it is important to improve working conditions and the attractiveness of specialties. Studies of specialty choice are rarely longitudinal or cohort studies. Cohort studies offer a more specific causal insight into the reasons for change during a medical career.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of health, illness, behavior, and society |
| Place of Publication | Oxford (UK) |
| Publisher | Wiley-Blackwell |
| Pages | 2254-2258 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1-118-41086-8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 21 Feb 2014 |