Open AccessEffect of the Inpatient General Medicine Rotation on Student Pursuit of a Generalist Career
Author(s) -
Arora Vineet,
Wetterneck Tosha B.,
Schnipper Jeffrey L.,
Auerbach Andrew D.,
Kaboli Peter,
Wachter Robert M.,
Levinson Wendy,
Humphrey Holly J.,
Meltzer David
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of general internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.746
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 1525-1497
pISSN - 0884-8734
DOI - 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00429.x
Subject(s) - medicine , generalist and specialist species , medline , family medicine , medical education , ecology , habitat , political science , law , biology
BACKGROUND: Entry into general internal medicine (GIM) has declined. The effect of the inpatient general medicine rotation on medical student career choices is uncertain. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of student satisfaction with the inpatient general medicine rotation on pursuit of a career in GIM. DESIGN: Multicenter cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: Third‐year medical students between July 2001 and June 2003. MEASUREMENTS: End‐of‐internal medicine clerkship survey assessed satisfaction with the rotation using a 5‐point Likert scale. Pursuit of a career in GIM defined as: (1) response of “Very Likely” or “Certain” to the question “How likely are you to pursue a career in GIM?”; and (2) entry into an internal medicine residency using institutional match data. RESULTS: Four hundred and two of 751 (54%) students responded. Of the student respondents, 307 (75%) matched in the 2 years following their rotations. Twenty‐eight percent (87) of those that matched chose an internal medicine residency. Of these, 8% (25/307) were pursuing a career in GIM. Adjusting for site and preclerkship interest, overall satisfaction with the rotation predicted pursuit of a career in GIM (odds ratio [OR] 3.91, P <.001). Although satisfaction with individual items did not predict pursuit of a generalist career, factor analysis revealed 3 components of satisfaction (attending, resident, and teaching). Adjusting for preclerkship interest, 2 factors (attending and teaching) were associated with student pursuit of a career in GIM ( P <.01). CONCLUSIONS: Increased satisfaction with the inpatient general medicine rotation promotes pursuit of a career in GIM.