Examining Medical Student Specialty Choice Through a Gender Lens: An Orientational Qualitative Study

Teaching and Learning in Medicine
Victoria SmithKatrina F Hurley

Abstract

Phenomenon: A growing number of women are entering the medical workforce, yet their distribution across medical specialties remains nonuniform. We sought to describe how culture, bias, and socialization shape gendered thinking regarding specialty choice at a Canadian undergraduate medical institution. We analyzed transcripts from the Career Choices Project: 16 semistructured focus group discussions with 70 students graduating from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2003, 2006, 2007, and 2008. The questions and prompts were designed to explore factors influencing specialty choice and did not specifically probe gender-based experiences. Focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed, and deidentified before analysis. Analysis was inductive and guided by principles of orientational qualitative inquiry using a gender-specific lens. The pursuits of personal and professional goals, as well as contextual factors, were the major themes that influenced decision-making for women and men. Composition of these major themes varied between genders. Influence of a partner, consideration of familial commitments (both present and future), feeling a sense of connectedness with the field in question, and social accountability were described by...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 16, 2019·Teaching and Learning in Medicine·Calvin J KersbergenMary Catherine Beach
Jan 23, 2020·Medical Education·Louise StoneKirsty A Douglas
Oct 10, 2020·Pain Medicine : the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine·Miles Belgrade, Andrea Belgrade
Dec 5, 2021·Medical Education·A Emiko BlalockChristine Choi

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