COVID-19 outbreak improves attractiveness of medical careers in Chinese senior high school students
Abstract Background The shortage of healthcare workers is becoming a serious global problem. The underlying reasons may be specific to the healthcare system in each country. Over the past decade, medicine has become an increasingly unpopular profession in China due to the heavy workload, long-term t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-04-01
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| Series: | BMC Medical Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03309-7 |
| _version_ | 1819209861877989376 |
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| author | Ruoxin Zhang Jianfeng Pei Yanli Wang Lei Wang Yeerzhati Yeerjiang Haifeng Gao Wanghong Xu |
| author_facet | Ruoxin Zhang Jianfeng Pei Yanli Wang Lei Wang Yeerzhati Yeerjiang Haifeng Gao Wanghong Xu |
| author_sort | Ruoxin Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The shortage of healthcare workers is becoming a serious global problem. The underlying reasons may be specific to the healthcare system in each country. Over the past decade, medicine has become an increasingly unpopular profession in China due to the heavy workload, long-term training, and inherent risks. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has placed the life-saving roles of healthcare professionals under the spotlight. This public health crisis may have a profound impact on career choices in Chinese population. Methods We conducted a questionnaire-based online survey among 21,085 senior high school students and 21,009 parents from 24 provinces (or municipalities) of China. We investigated the change of interest in medical study due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the potential motivational factors based on the expectancy-value theory framework. Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation of static or dynamic interest in medical career pursuit with the reported number of COVID-19 cases. Logistic regression model was adopted to analyze the main factors associated with students’ choices. Results We observed an increased preference for medical study post the outbreak of COVID-19 in both students (17.5 to 29.6%) and parents (37.1 to 47.3%). Attainment value was found to be the main reason for the choice among students, with the contribution to society rated as the top motivation. On the other hand, the predominant demotivation in high school students was lack of interest, followed by concerns regarding violence against doctors, heavy workload, long-term training and heavy responsibility as a doctor. Additionally, students who were female, in the resit of final year, had highly educated parents and outside of Hubei province were significantly associated with a keen interest in pursuing medical study. Conclusions This is the first multi-center cross-sectional study exploring the positive change and motivations of students’ preferences in medical study due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Our results may help medical educators, researchers and policymakers to restructure medical education to make it more appealing to high school students, particularly, to develop a more supportive social and working environment for medical professionals to maintain the observed enhanced enthusiasm. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T06:02:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ac0d9931d4124342b00da034f59e4c65 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6920 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T06:02:01Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medical Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-ac0d9931d4124342b00da034f59e4c652022-12-21T17:57:39ZengBMCBMC Medical Education1472-69202022-04-0122111210.1186/s12909-022-03309-7COVID-19 outbreak improves attractiveness of medical careers in Chinese senior high school studentsRuoxin Zhang0Jianfeng Pei1Yanli Wang2Lei Wang3Yeerzhati Yeerjiang4Haifeng Gao5Wanghong Xu6Department of Epidemiology, Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment (National Health Commission), Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Fudan UniversityDepartment of Epidemiology, Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment (National Health Commission), Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Fudan UniversityWuhan No.4 High SchoolDepartment of Epidemiology, Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment (National Health Commission), Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Fudan UniversityDepartment of Epidemiology, Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment (National Health Commission), Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Fudan UniversityAdmissions Office, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan UniversityDepartment of Epidemiology, Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment (National Health Commission), Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Fudan UniversityAbstract Background The shortage of healthcare workers is becoming a serious global problem. The underlying reasons may be specific to the healthcare system in each country. Over the past decade, medicine has become an increasingly unpopular profession in China due to the heavy workload, long-term training, and inherent risks. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has placed the life-saving roles of healthcare professionals under the spotlight. This public health crisis may have a profound impact on career choices in Chinese population. Methods We conducted a questionnaire-based online survey among 21,085 senior high school students and 21,009 parents from 24 provinces (or municipalities) of China. We investigated the change of interest in medical study due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the potential motivational factors based on the expectancy-value theory framework. Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation of static or dynamic interest in medical career pursuit with the reported number of COVID-19 cases. Logistic regression model was adopted to analyze the main factors associated with students’ choices. Results We observed an increased preference for medical study post the outbreak of COVID-19 in both students (17.5 to 29.6%) and parents (37.1 to 47.3%). Attainment value was found to be the main reason for the choice among students, with the contribution to society rated as the top motivation. On the other hand, the predominant demotivation in high school students was lack of interest, followed by concerns regarding violence against doctors, heavy workload, long-term training and heavy responsibility as a doctor. Additionally, students who were female, in the resit of final year, had highly educated parents and outside of Hubei province were significantly associated with a keen interest in pursuing medical study. Conclusions This is the first multi-center cross-sectional study exploring the positive change and motivations of students’ preferences in medical study due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Our results may help medical educators, researchers and policymakers to restructure medical education to make it more appealing to high school students, particularly, to develop a more supportive social and working environment for medical professionals to maintain the observed enhanced enthusiasm.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03309-7COVID-19Senior high school studentsMedical studyParentsMotivation |
| spellingShingle | Ruoxin Zhang Jianfeng Pei Yanli Wang Lei Wang Yeerzhati Yeerjiang Haifeng Gao Wanghong Xu COVID-19 outbreak improves attractiveness of medical careers in Chinese senior high school students BMC Medical Education COVID-19 Senior high school students Medical study Parents Motivation |
| title | COVID-19 outbreak improves attractiveness of medical careers in Chinese senior high school students |
| title_full | COVID-19 outbreak improves attractiveness of medical careers in Chinese senior high school students |
| title_fullStr | COVID-19 outbreak improves attractiveness of medical careers in Chinese senior high school students |
| title_full_unstemmed | COVID-19 outbreak improves attractiveness of medical careers in Chinese senior high school students |
| title_short | COVID-19 outbreak improves attractiveness of medical careers in Chinese senior high school students |
| title_sort | covid 19 outbreak improves attractiveness of medical careers in chinese senior high school students |
| topic | COVID-19 Senior high school students Medical study Parents Motivation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03309-7 |
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