Psychosocial beliefs of medical students planning to specialize in family medicine

The psychosocial orientation of fourth-year medical students planning careers in family medicine was compared to those selecting other specialities using the Physician Belief Scale. This scale has shown that practicing family physicians have a greater psychosocial orientation than those in other specialities such as internal medicine. The current study was done to see whether students choosing family medicine already have this greater orientation before they begin training as residents. 664 fourth-year medical students received surveys during their senior year and 378 (57%) returned completed surveys. Female students had a significantly greater psychosocial orientation than their male peers, but there were no significant differences between students planning residencies in family medicine and those selecting other residencies. The greater orientation of family doctors would appear to be a product of further training and experience either during residency or later during the actual practice of family medicine.