Purpose: The medical profession has been regarded as a vocation, valued both socially and economically. This study explored the importance of high-paying profession as a motive for applying to medical school between 1988 and 2023, and its relation to physicians’ postgraduate training goals.
Material and methods: The data comprised of eight repeated cross-sectional surveys conducted in five-year intervals from 1988 to 2023. Respondents graduated 2 to 11 years before each survey (total n = 11,638; min 1,177−max 1,795 per survey; average response rate 55%). The association between valuing high-paying profession and pursuing professional or scientific postgraduate education was analyzed using ordinal logistic regression.
Major findings: A smaller proportion of those who entered medical studies motivated by the prospect of a high-paying profession engaged in doctoral research (OR 0.93; 95% CI 0.89–0.97) and specialization (OR 0.88; LV 0.78−0.98) compared to those motivated by other reasons. Men were more likely than women to specialize within 2 to 11 years after graduation (OR 1.58; 95% CI 1.47–1.70), and male gender also increased the likelihood of pursuing scientific postgraduate education (OR 1.67; 95% CI 1.53–1.82).
Conclusions: A growing emphasis on income among applicants could increase the shortage of specialists and reduce the number of physicians engaging in scientific research.