Does the instructional quality of community-based clinical clerkships influence students career preferences.docVIP

International Journal of Medical Education. 2011; 2:74-79 ISSN: 2042-6372 DOI: 10.5116/ijme.4e4a.d171 Does the instructional quality of community- based clinical clerkships influence students’ career preferences? Masanobu Okayama, Eiji Kajii Division of Community and Family Medicine, Centre for Community Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Japan Correspondence: Masanobu Okayama, Division of Community and Family Medicine, Centre for Community Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Japan. Email: okayama@jichi.ac.jp Accepted: August 16, 2011 Abstract Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the association between student evaluation of their community- based clinical clerkship, their attitudes towards community health care and their career preferences. Methods: Self-administered pre- and post-questionnaire surveys were given to 693 fifth-year medical students participating in a two-week community-based clinical clerkship. Items measured were student preference for a career in primary care, student evaluation of the pro- gramme and student attitudes towards community health care. clerkship. By multivariate analysis, it was found that evalua- tion of the programme (‘The programme was a worthwhile learning experience.’ [multivariate regression coefficient: 0.143, p=0.014]) and their attitude (‘I think practising community health care is worthwhile.’ [0.367, p0.001]) were strongly associated with the increase in preference for a career as a primary care physician after the clinical clerk- ship. Conclusions: Community-based education increases student preference for a future career as a primary care physician. Providing programmes of a high instructional quality further increases the chance of student physicians choosing a future career as a primary care physician. Results: Six hundred and forty-five stude