YOUNG PHYSICIANS MOST AND LEAST LIKELY TO HAVE 2ND THOUGHTS ABOUT A CAREER IN MEDICINE

To identify factors associated with apparent disaffection with medicine as a career, the authors analyzed data for 4,931 young physicians surveyed in 1987. Using survey responses, the authors classified 932 of the physicians (18.9%) as most likely to have second thoughts about their career choices and 1,094 (22.2%) as least likely to have second thoughts. The group with the greatest reservations included significantly higher proportion of white women, blacks, and Hispanics. This group reported significantly lower incomes, higher incomes, higher educational debt, and more hours and patient's visits per week. Among employee physicians, those most disaffected were significantly more likely to report inappropriate use of tests and procedures and lack of automony in their practices. The authors conclude that it is important to reexamine the heavy reliance on debt financing of medical eduation, especially for minority students, and to explore the equality of career opportunities for women and minorities in medicine.