AIMS AND OBJECTIVES This paper reports on non-mature general nursing students' perceptions of nursing as a career prior to their first clinical placement. BACKGROUND It is widely recognised that the first clinical practice experience serves a dual role, that of validating students' choice of career and shaping their perceptions of nursing. This study sought to explore 23 first year non-mature...

A conceptual look at the distinction between expressed and measured interests is undertaken. Instead of denoting two different aspects of “vocational interests,” expressed and measured interests refer to distinct psychological constructs. Expressed interests are specific intentions and measured interests are what people conventionally mean by “vocational interests.” Using research on how intent...

Interest in nephrology as a career choice for physicians in the United States continues to decline, particularly among US medical graduates. Reasons for this are multi-factorial and include nephrology being perceived as difficult, arduous and un-inspiring with poor career prospects. This short paper discusses some aspects of Nephrology that need to be adjusted to attract bright enthusiastic phy...

Reforms to postgraduate training in the U.K. may affect recruitment to geriatric medicine. In 2005, a questionnaire survey was undertaken to determine the factors favouring geriatric medicine as a career choice and whether these might be used to influence recruitment. In all, 1036 responses to the questionnaire were received (response rate 56.4%); 4% of the respondents decided to specialise in ...

We develop a simple methodology to estimate the returns to education despite heterogeneous labor/leisure preferences. The labor supply behavior of doctors and physician assistants is consistent with people choosing between the two careers based on differing tastes for leisure. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Throughout time, plentiful narratives have originated on individuals achieving astonishing things after receiving a ‘calling’ to a certain vocation. Examples range from the biblical calling of Moses in the desert to liberate the people of Israel from their oppression and slavery in Egypt [1] to Frodo Baggins being called to the quest aimed at destroying the ring of Sauron [2]. More recently and...

Objective To 1) describe patterns of specialty choice; 2) investigate relationships between career selection and selected demographic indicators; and 3) identify salary perception, factors that influence career choice in primary care, and factors that influence desired location of future medical practice. Methods The study used a mixed-methods approach that included a cross-sectional question...

Structural changes in the economy have created an employment environment that dictates hiring selectivity within the information technology (IT) field. Higher employer expectations combined with a tighter career market have introduced challenging career barriers for IT undergraduate majors. Swanson and Woitke (1997) defined career barriers as “events or conditions, either within the person or i...

BACKGROUND While medicine in general is becoming more female-dominated, women are still under-represented in surgery. Opinion is divided as to whether this is due to lifestyle considerations, disinterest or perceived discrimination. It is not clear at what stage these careers decisions are made. METHODS 300 first year medical students at Guy's King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine (GKT) we...

OBJECTIVE To investigate medical students' career choice motivation and its relationship with their academic interest and performance. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study in a sample (n=207) of medical students at a private medical school in Korea, stratified by year of medical course. Data about participant demographics, career choice motivation and academic interest were collected ...