Specialty Selection

Abstract

This investigation attempted to identify some of the cognitive and noncognitive factors that occur before and during undergraduate medical education and that appear to account, in part, for the selection of a medical specialty. A retrospective approach was used to study specialty selection among graduates of the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Students (n = 535) who received a doctorate of medicine degree in 1980, 1981, and 1982 and who selected residencies in internal medicine, pediatrics, family practice, obstetrics/gynecology, psychiatry, surgery, and anesthesiology-pathology-radiology were included in the investigation. It was noted that residency selection, for specific specialty groups, could be predicted at different points of time. Students who demonstrated the lowest levels of prematriculation achievement were those in obstetrical gynecology and pediatrics; highest levels of prematriculation achievement were recorded by those in psychiatry and anesthesiology-pathology-radiology. Highest levels of achievement during medical school were demonstrated by internists and surgeons; lowest by obstetricians/gynecologists and family practitioners. Further, specific patterns of noncognitive characteristics for each specialty group were found. Recommendations for practice and future research are made; implications for current admissions procedures are addressed.