Skip to main content

Table 2 Intrinsic versus extrinsic motivations to study medicine predict reported likelihood to work in an under-served area, 285 Ghanaian Medical Students

From: Willingness to work in rural areas and the role of intrinsic versus extrinsic professional motivations - a survey of medical students in Ghana

  

Reported likelihood to work in an underserved area

Top 3 factors that motivated them to study medicine

 

Unlikely

Likely

 

N = 285 1

N = 127

%

N = 158

%

Intrinsic Motivation 2

     

   Weak (0 or 1/3 factors)

104

57

54.8

47

45.2

   Strong (2 or 3/3 factors)

181

70

38.7

111

61.3

Extrinsic Motivation3

     

   Weak (0 or 1/3 factors)

186

73

39.3

113

60.8

   Strong (2 or 3/3 factors)

99

54

54.6

45

45.5

  1. 1. Excludes 17 missing values for willingness to work rural and/or current motivation.
  2. 2. Intrinsic motivation includes: desire to help others, desire to give back to their home community or country, interest in medicine as a subject matter, inspiration by a role model, and loss of a loved one; Pearson χ2(1) = 6.9592, p = 0.008.
  3. 3. Extrinsic motivation includes: income of physicians, job security and lifestyle, social status/prestige, proposed by parents, opportunities to travel and work internationally, ability to use new cutting edge technologies, and research opportunities; Pearson χ2(1) = 6.1208, p = 0.013.