title: Primary care specialty career choice among Canadian medical students: Understanding the factors that influence their decisions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify which factors influence medical students' decision to choose a career in family medicine and pediatrics, and which factors influence their decision to choose careers in non-front-line specialties.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survey that was created based on a comprehensive literature review to determine which factors are considered important when choosing practice specialty.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ontario medical school.
  
  
  METHODS
  An open cohort of medical students in the graduating classes of 2008 to 2011 (inclusive).
  
  
  METHODS
  The main factors that influenced participants' decision to choose a career in primary care or pediatrics, and the main factors that influenced participants' decision to choose a career in a non-front-line specialty.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 323 participants were included in this study. Factors that significantly influenced participants' career choice in family medicine or pediatrics involved work-life balance (acceptable hours of practice [P= .005], acceptable on-call demands [P= .012], and lifestyle flexibility [P= .006]); a robust physician-patient relationship (ability to promote individual health promotion [P= .014] and the opportunity to form long-term relationships [P< .001], provide comprehensive care [P= .001], and treat patients and their families [P= .006]); and duration of residency program (P= .001). The career-related factors that significantly influenced participants' decision to choose a non-front-line specialty were as follows: becoming an expert (P< .001), maintaining a focused scope of practice (P< .001), having a procedure-focused practice (P= .001), seeing immediate results from one's actions (P< .001), potentially earning a high income (P< .001), and having a perceived status among colleagues (P< .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, 8 factors were found to positively influence medical students' career choice in family medicine and pediatrics, and 6 factors influenced the decision to choose a career in a non-front-line specialty. Medical students can be encouraged to explore a career in family medicine or pediatrics by addressing misinformation, by encouraging realistic expectations of career outcomes in the various specialties, and by demonstrating the capacity of primary care fields to incorporate specific motivating factors.
authors.affiliation: Head and neck oncology fellow at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass heather_osborn@meei.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Heather Ann
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Osborn
authors.affiliation: Rhinology and skull base surgery fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
authors.forename: Jordan T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Glicksman
authors.affiliation: Lecturer in the Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Toronto.
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.affiliation: Professor and Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Professor at the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and Director of the Voice Production and Perception Laboratory, as well as the Laboratory for Well-Being and Quality of Life in Oncology, at Western University.
authors.forename: Philip C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Music Performance Studies, and the Department of Oncology at Western University.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fung
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009864:Ontario; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011320:Primary Health Care; D013038:Specialization; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires