Exploring Careers in Medicine: Implementation and Perceived Value of a Multi-Specialty Elective

Overview

Journal Med Sci Educ

Publisher Springer

Specialty Medical Education

Date 2021 Aug 30

PMID 34457977

Authors

Michelle K York

Sarah P Pourali

Eriny S Hanna

Melissa E Day

Saad Rehman

Amy E Fleming

Michael Pilla

Charlotte M Brown

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction: Choosing a medical specialty is one of the most crucial and difficult decisions made during medical school. Given that specialty exposure is among the most important factors in decision-making, the Careers in Medicine (CiM) multi-specialty elective was designed to provide clerkship students an avenue to explore three or more specialties of interest during a single elective.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine using anonymous surveys and de-identified written reflections submitted by students enrolled in the CiM course between August 2015 and June 2018. Data were analyzed using a mixed-methods approach.

Results: The majority of students reported the elective guided them in ruling out (80%) and ruling in (65%) specialties. About half (51%) of students decided between the procedural versus critical-thinking dichotomy. Finally, 80% of students reported that they would take the course again rather than a focused elective. Major themes identified from student reflections included course attributes, specialty impacts, and student values.

Discussion: Implementation of a multi-specialty elective during the clerkship year was an effective way to help students understand their career values, gain early exposure to specialties not featured in core clinical curriculums, and determine future fields of interest.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-021-01311-0.

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