BACKGROUND Specialty distribution in Kenya continues to exhibit gender disparities despite the increasing number of female medical students graduating each year. This study aimed at assessing specialty preferences and factors influencing these choices among male and female medical students in Kenya. METHODS Four hundred and fifty medical students, from first to fifth year of study at the Univ...

INTRODUCTION Medical students are the source of a country's physicians. Determining how medical students select their areas of specialization is the key to achieve a balanced distribution of doctors among all specialties. The objective is to identify the number of medical students who have decided their postgraduate specialty career, their career specialties preference, and factors that may inf...

With the increase in the number of female physicians in Japan, breaks in their career associated with life events have become more apparent. Based on Schein‟s conceptual theory of career anchors, this study examined the relationship between career anchors, choosing specialty, and life satisfaction among female physicians who had worked in rural practice. A career anchor questionnaire was distri...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES This study investigated the relationship of role models to primary care specialty and gathered information on the attributes and functions of role models. METHODS A questionnaire on medical school experiences and attitudes was administered to primary care graduates from 24 US medical schools. RESULTS Questionnaires were completed by 1,457 physicians. Sixty-three pe...

To cite: Colla CH, Sequist TD, Rosenthal MB, et al. BMJ Qual Saf 2015;24:149–153. INTRODUCTION In 2011, the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation created the Choosing Wisely initiative, which encourages physicians to be responsible stewards of finite healthcare resources. Through this programme, specialty societies have created lists of “Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Quest...

Sometimes, the hardest thing for a physician to do is nothing: not ordering magnetic resonance imaging for a patient with acute, uncomplicated back pain; not prescribing antibiotics for a simple upper respiratory tract infection; not reaching for the prescription pad when patients—exhorted by a television advertisement—ask if some new medicine is “right for them.” And although patients are some...