TY - JOUR
T1 - Who do you think you are? : medical student socioeconomic status and intention to work in underserved areas
AU - Griffin, Barbara
AU - Porfeli, Erik
AU - Hu, Wendy
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - A frequently cited rationale for increasing the participation of students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds is that it will create a workforce who will choose to work in low SES and medically underserviced communities. Two theoretical arguments, one that supports and one that contradicts this assumption, are proposed to explain the practice location intentions of medical students which we examine in a longitudinal analysis. SES background and future intentions of 351 applicants to an undergraduate medical degree were assessed at Time 1, with intentions re-assessed one year later for 96% of those who were enrolled as medical students. Students from very low (and very high) SES backgrounds indicated lower intention to practice in low SES or medically underserviced areas than those from mid-range SES backgrounds. Males and students from non-English speaking backgrounds indicated less desire to work in low SES areas, perhaps explained by high aspirational motivation. SES accounted for a relatively small amount of variance in practice intentions. Alternate predictors of practice location, including individual values and training effects, and their implications for selection practice, are discussed.
AB - A frequently cited rationale for increasing the participation of students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds is that it will create a workforce who will choose to work in low SES and medically underserviced communities. Two theoretical arguments, one that supports and one that contradicts this assumption, are proposed to explain the practice location intentions of medical students which we examine in a longitudinal analysis. SES background and future intentions of 351 applicants to an undergraduate medical degree were assessed at Time 1, with intentions re-assessed one year later for 96% of those who were enrolled as medical students. Students from very low (and very high) SES backgrounds indicated lower intention to practice in low SES or medically underserviced areas than those from mid-range SES backgrounds. Males and students from non-English speaking backgrounds indicated less desire to work in low SES areas, perhaps explained by high aspirational motivation. SES accounted for a relatively small amount of variance in practice intentions. Alternate predictors of practice location, including individual values and training effects, and their implications for selection practice, are discussed.
KW - medical students
KW - medically underserved areas
KW - social status
KW - student aspirations
UR - http://handle.westernsydney.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:38501
U2 - 10.1007/s10459-016-9726-1
DO - 10.1007/s10459-016-9726-1
M3 - Article
SN - 1573-1677
SN - 1382-4996
VL - 22
SP - 491
EP - 504
JO - Advances in Health Sciences Education
JF - Advances in Health Sciences Education
IS - 2
ER -