The authors analyzed Pediatrics as career choice in a study involving 877 graduates from the University of Brasilia from 1994 to 2007. Data included demographics, learning attributes, early career preference, peer-tutoring experience, academic achievement, selective training in the last semester, and choice of residency training. Contingency and logistic regression analyses were performed with the graduates grouped according to choice of Pediatrics versus all other options. Overall, 9.7% of graduates had chosen Pediatrics, of whom 44.7% had indicated early attraction to the specialty, while another 45.9% did not express interest until their clinical training. No significant trend was shown for early attraction, but a lower proportion of graduates chose Pediatrics in the last 6 years, in parallel with fewer applications for tutoring experience and selective training. Logistic regression identified five predictors of choice in decreasing order of effect size: selective training, overall achievement, reflective learning style, ranking of early preference, and time of graduation. Independent ef fects of gender and peer tutoring were not statistically significant. In conclusion, the predictors of choice of Pediatrics comprised personal and curricular features in distinct patterns of interest and influence, within an overall context of decreasing choice of the specialty in recent years.
Education, Medical; Undergraduate; Internship and Residency; Career Choice; Pediatrics
