Future Aspirations of Medical Students in Current Scenario of Medical Reforms – A Comparison between Government and Private Setup

To find out the aspirations of medical students about future career prospects, and whether these aspirations differ between government and private setup or between just entered and about to exit students.

Aquestionnairebased study was conducted simultaneously in a government and a private medical college including students in 1^st year and final year of MBBS. Questionnaire provided to participants consisted of 15 questions related to choice of job (govt. or private), rural postings, specialisation, financial aspirations and others. Percentages were calculated and chi-square tests were used to identify differences between different groups.

A total of 317 students participated in the study, 171 from government medical college and 146 from private. A total of 79.8% were interested in joining job in govt. sector and 39.12% preferred to join primary healthcare centre (PHC). Preference of 1st year students for PHC was more than final year (p = 0.01). Medicine was the preferred branch for specialisation followed by surgery and paediatrics. Only 27.13% students were interested in joining teaching profession. 45.1% students expected more than 1 lakh rupees (Indian currency) per month. Final year students were more likely to marry medical professionals than 1st year (p< 0.001).

Low inclination of students towards rural areas, post-graduation in pre and paraclinical branches and teaching profession were alarming findings, which need due consideration during planning and policy decisions. Career aspirations of medical students were not much different between government and private medical colleges except financial expectations.