Students'choice of medicine and their future career plans were evaluated in a study using a qualitative methodology to analyze two open-ended questions, one on their choice of medicine and the facts and factors that influenced their choice, and the other on future professional career plans and underlying factors. The justification for the study was the recognition that motivations for choosing medicine are complex and mutable over time, and that future physicians have tended to choose their specialty early. The results confirm various findings from the literature concerning medicine as a career choice, including unconscious mechanisms. However, the results here differ from the literature in that status in the work market and the possibility of high earnings were among the most frequently cited factors, next to altruism. As for future plans, there was an obvious concern over reconciling one's professional career and personal life. Although many students still lacked well-defined career plans and simply wanted to receive a good medical education, the choice and exercise of specialty and concern over medical residency were already present in this early stage of medical school.
Medical Education; Career Choice; Medical Students
