Is the desire to help people the main motivation for entering a medical profession? A cross-cultural, phenomenological study
Discrepancies between motivation and the realities of becoming a physician can lead to burnout and thus physician shortages. Personal motivation appears to be a predictor of success, but modern medical education does not sufficiently emphasize it. This study aims to better understand indi...
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Academia.edu Journals
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Academia Mental Health & Well-Being |
| Online Access: | https://www.academia.edu/127870738/Is_the_desire_to_help_people_the_main_motivation_for_entering_a_medical_profession_A_cross_cultural_phenomenological_study |
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| author | Cornelis A. J. De Jong Lisa Wang Leendert C. van Rijn Shelly Iskandar Darius Jokūbonis Maarten J. van der Laan |
| author_facet | Cornelis A. J. De Jong Lisa Wang Leendert C. van Rijn Shelly Iskandar Darius Jokūbonis Maarten J. van der Laan |
| author_sort | Cornelis A. J. De Jong |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Discrepancies between motivation and the realities of becoming a physician can lead to burnout and thus physician shortages. Personal motivation appears to be a predictor of success, but modern medical education does not sufficiently emphasize it. This study aims to better understand individual motivation for becoming a physician. Residents and interns in psychiatry were asked about their reasons for choosing to become physicians. Twelve individuals with different medical backgrounds categorized these reasons through a card-sorting task. Through co-occurrence analysis, categories were identified and named by consensus. Among the 86 participants, 270 reasons were cited. Nine categories were identified, listed in the order of frequency: helping people, interest in the human body, job/financial security, work context, initiated by family/parents, interesting/challenging/practical, respected profession, long-held dream, and problem-solving/finding answers. Interest in the human body was significantly greater among younger participants, while motivation to help people increased significantly with age. In Lithuania and Indonesia, helping people was the primary motivation for becoming a doctor, whereas in the Netherlands, interest in the human body was the most frequently mentioned reason. The Netherlands also mentioned interest in the human body and the interesting/challenging/practical category significantly more often. Examining motivation for becoming a physician provides insight into differences in motivational profiles. These profiles can be compared to physicians’ daily practice across medical disciplines. Such reflection can help identify potential incompatibility between initial motivation and the demands of specific medical disciplines. This may help reverse the trend of declining vitality of the medical profession. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-16714876144e4432948cd5d51f20ebeb |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2997-9196 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Academia.edu Journals |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Academia Mental Health & Well-Being |
| spelling | doaj-art-16714876144e4432948cd5d51f20ebeb2025-08-20T01:57:15ZengAcademia.edu JournalsAcademia Mental Health & Well-Being2997-91962025-02-012110.20935/MHealthWellB7531Is the desire to help people the main motivation for entering a medical profession? A cross-cultural, phenomenological studyCornelis A. J. De Jong0Lisa Wang1Leendert C. van Rijn2Shelly Iskandar3Darius Jokūbonis4Maarten J. van der Laan5Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 XZ, The Netherlands.Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen 9731 GZ, The Netherlands.Verslavingszorg Noord-Nederland, Leeuwarden 8921 LW, The Netherlands.Department of Psychiatry, Padjajaran University, Bandung, Java 40161, Indonesia.Department of Psychiatry, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas LT-44307, Lithuania.Department of Vascular Surgery, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen 9713 GZ, The Netherlands. Discrepancies between motivation and the realities of becoming a physician can lead to burnout and thus physician shortages. Personal motivation appears to be a predictor of success, but modern medical education does not sufficiently emphasize it. This study aims to better understand individual motivation for becoming a physician. Residents and interns in psychiatry were asked about their reasons for choosing to become physicians. Twelve individuals with different medical backgrounds categorized these reasons through a card-sorting task. Through co-occurrence analysis, categories were identified and named by consensus. Among the 86 participants, 270 reasons were cited. Nine categories were identified, listed in the order of frequency: helping people, interest in the human body, job/financial security, work context, initiated by family/parents, interesting/challenging/practical, respected profession, long-held dream, and problem-solving/finding answers. Interest in the human body was significantly greater among younger participants, while motivation to help people increased significantly with age. In Lithuania and Indonesia, helping people was the primary motivation for becoming a doctor, whereas in the Netherlands, interest in the human body was the most frequently mentioned reason. The Netherlands also mentioned interest in the human body and the interesting/challenging/practical category significantly more often. Examining motivation for becoming a physician provides insight into differences in motivational profiles. These profiles can be compared to physicians’ daily practice across medical disciplines. Such reflection can help identify potential incompatibility between initial motivation and the demands of specific medical disciplines. This may help reverse the trend of declining vitality of the medical profession.https://www.academia.edu/127870738/Is_the_desire_to_help_people_the_main_motivation_for_entering_a_medical_profession_A_cross_cultural_phenomenological_study |
| spellingShingle | Cornelis A. J. De Jong Lisa Wang Leendert C. van Rijn Shelly Iskandar Darius Jokūbonis Maarten J. van der Laan Is the desire to help people the main motivation for entering a medical profession? A cross-cultural, phenomenological study Academia Mental Health & Well-Being |
| title | Is the desire to help people the main motivation for entering a medical profession? A cross-cultural, phenomenological study |
| title_full | Is the desire to help people the main motivation for entering a medical profession? A cross-cultural, phenomenological study |
| title_fullStr | Is the desire to help people the main motivation for entering a medical profession? A cross-cultural, phenomenological study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is the desire to help people the main motivation for entering a medical profession? A cross-cultural, phenomenological study |
| title_short | Is the desire to help people the main motivation for entering a medical profession? A cross-cultural, phenomenological study |
| title_sort | is the desire to help people the main motivation for entering a medical profession a cross cultural phenomenological study |
| url | https://www.academia.edu/127870738/Is_the_desire_to_help_people_the_main_motivation_for_entering_a_medical_profession_A_cross_cultural_phenomenological_study |
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