How and why do French medical students choose the specialty of infectious and tropical diseases? A national cross-sectio
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(2020) 20:397
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
How and why do French medical students choose the specialty of infectious and tropical diseases? A national cross-sectional study Nathan Peiffer-Smadja1,2,3* , François-Daniel Ardellier4, Pauline Thill1, Anne-Lise Beaumont1, Gaud Catho1, Lindsay Osei1, Vincent Dubée1, Alexandre Bleibtreu1, Adrien Lemaignen1 and Michaël Thy1,5
Abstract Background: Infectious and tropical diseases (ID) physicians are needed now more than ever to tackle existing and emerging global threats. However, in many countries, ID is not recognized as a qualifying specialty. The creation of ID residency in 2017 in France offers the opportunity to know how and why the specialty is chosen by medical students. Methods: We first analyzed the choice of specialty of all French medical students in 2017 and 2018 according to their rank at the national exam that ends medical studies. A web questionnaire was then sent in January 2019 to all ID residents in France (n = 100) to assess the factors influencing their choice of specialty and their career plan. Results: We analyzed the choice of 17,087 medical students. ID was the first-chosen specialty with a median national rank of 526/8539, followed by plastic surgery and ophthalmology. The questionnaire was completed by 90% of the French ID residents (n = 100). The most encouraging factors to choose ID were the multisystem approach of the specialty, the importance of diagnostic medicine and having done an internship in ID during medical school. The potential deterrents were the work-life balance, the workload and the salary. Conclusions: The recent recognition of ID as a qualifying specialty in France can be considered a success insofar as the specialty is the most popular among all medical and surgical specialties. Individuals who choose ID are attracted by the intellectual stimulation of the specialty but express concerns about the working conditions and salaries. Keywords: Career choice, Infectious diseases education, Perception of infectious diseases, Residency
* Correspondence: [email protected] 1 RéJIF, Young French Infectious Diseases Physicians’ Network - Réseau des Jeunes Infectiologues Français, Paris, France 2 Infectious Diseases Department, Bichat-Claude Bernard Hospital, Assistance-Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permi
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