Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges
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Comparative Study
The controllable lifestyle factor and students' attitudes about specialty selection.
Questionnaires were distributed to 346 fourth-year students in nine medical schools. The students were asked to state their selected specialty and to rank the importance that each of 25 influences, listed as questionnaire items, had had in making their choice of specialty. Factor analysis showed that particular items were significantly associated with particular factors. ⋯ Responses to items that defined the cerebral and practice factor were highest from the group of students choosing CL specialties and lowest from the group choosing NCL specialties. The NCL students scored highest in the altruism factor and the CL students scored the lowest. The surgery and NCL groups were similar in attitude patterns, and both were substantially different in attitude patterns from those of the CL groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)