Letter
Speciality interests and career calling to medicine among first-year medical students
Authors:
- Nicole J. BorgesEmail Nicole J. Borges
- R. Stephen Manuel
- Ryan D. Duffy
Abstract
The construct of calling has recently been applied to the vocation of medicine. We explored whether medical students endorse the presence of a calling or a search for a calling and how calling related to initial speciality interest. 574 first-year medical students (84 % response rate) were administered the Brief Calling Survey and indicated their speciality interest. For presence of a calling, the median response was mostly true for: ‘I have a calling to a particular kind of work’ and moderately true for: ‘I have a good understanding of my calling as it applies to my career’. For search for a calling, median response was mildly true: ‘I am trying to figure out my calling in my career’ and ‘I am searching for my calling as it applies to my career’. Mann–Whitney U (p < 0.05) results indicate that students interested in primary care (n = 185) versus non-primary care (n = 389) are more likely to endorse the presence of a calling. Students were more likely to endorse the presence of a calling rather than a search for a calling, with those interested in primary care expressing stronger presence of a calling to medicine.
Keywords:
- Year: 2013
- Volume: 2 Issue: 1
- Page/Article: 14-17
- DOI: 10.1007/S40037-012-0037-9
- Published on 9 Jan 2013
- Peer Reviewed