Doctors take heart. Despite the numbers of current physicians who report feeling burned out, underpaid and unappreciated, 93% of prospective doctors say that they are very or somewhat optimistic about the future of the profession. The National Survey of Future Medical Leaders, conducted in June 2013 of 6, 000 current high school students with grade point averages of 3.5 or higher who plan to pursue medial careers, found them to be extremely positive about the future of medicine.
6, 000 Top Students Bullish on Medical Profession
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The conductors of the survey found that this generation is going into medicine for what the survey authors believe to be the right reasons. The students want the doctor-patient relationships (74%) and not job security (14.2%) or the prestige of being a physician (15%). Even the challenges of medical school do not frighten them off nor do they fear losing direction (4%) or the rigors of medical studies (10%).
The survey found that fewer than 7% of the future doctors want to go into primary care medicine. The students’ two favorite specialties were pediatrics (18%) and surgery (17%). The youth had also given little thought to the potential impact on the profession of the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). More than half of the respondents (51%), including those who had a family member or close friend in the profession, had no opinion on the perceived effects of ObamaCare.
Connie Mariano, M.D., Medical Director of the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists, said, “It’s our obligation to mentor our future medical leaders so they know what tomorrow holds for medicine. The stakes are too high to let these young medical leaders get off track.”
The National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists was founded to identify prospective medical talent at the earliest possible age and help these students acquire the necessary experience and skills. Based in Washington, D.C., the Academy was chartered as a nonpartisan, taxpaying institution to identify, encourage and mentor students who wish to devote their lives to the service of humanity as physicians, medical scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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