Socio demographic profile and career aspirations of medical students in a new medical school.
All fifty-two pioneer medical students in a new medical school (The College of Medicine of Lagos State University), participated in a cross sectional survey to identify their socio-demographic profile and career intentions. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The students were observed to be mature. Their mean age was 23.6 years +/- 3.8. A third were graduates with at least a first degree, while 23% had parents with medical background. Factors influencing their choice of medicine as a career were desire to serve mankind (91%), primary interest in the profession (90%) and parental influence (84%). Sixty-seven per cent of them would want to specialize while the most frequently chosen fields were obstetrics and gynaecology (28.6%) and surgery (25.7%). The main reasons influencing specialisation were primary interest in the specialty (91%), service to humanity (91%) and job satisfaction (85.7%). A desire to specialize was evident even in these medical students who were just starting medical school.
College of Medicine, Lagos State University, P.M.B. 21266, Ikeja, Lagos.
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D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009549:Nigeria; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires