Skip to main content

Table 5 Linear composite variables (LCV) derived via principal component analysis, with varimax rotation

From: The temporal decline of idealism in two cohorts of medical students at one institution

Factor (% of variance)

Items (Component score) (n = 780^)

How important are the following factors in considering your career in medicine?

Idealism in medicine (21.023)

Desire to serve my community (0.805)

Opportunity to help patients who are socially disadvantaged (0.753)

Opportunities to make a difference in people’s lives (0.732)

Desire to do primary care (0.519)

Employment and job security (20.455)

Availability of jobs (0.897)

Job security (0.883)

Status and income (14.153)

Status of physicians (0.881)

High income potential (0.676)

Career satisfaction (12.239)

Intellectual climate (0.725)

Job satisfaction (0.536)

How important are the following factors in considering your choice for a specialty?

Prestige and income (19.883)

Prestige of the specialty I am considering (0.736)

Competitiveness of the specialty (0.721)

Options for fellowship training associated with the specialty (0.645)

Income expectations for the specialty (0.542)

Opportunities to do research in this specialty (0.492)

Lifestyle and family (17.080)

The lifestyle of the specialty I am considering (0.826)

Ability to balance my work life with my family responsibilities (0.799)

Length of residency training associated with the specialty (0.569)

Idealism and educational experience (11.772)

Opportunities to provide care to underserved populations (0.808)

Career workshops and courses (0.570)

Debt over interest in content (10.498)

Amount of education debt I have (0.532)

Content of the specialty (-0.794)

Attitudes toward primary care

Value of primary care skills (19.239)

Medical interviewing is a fundamental tool for all medical students to learn (0.827)

It is essential that medical students learn how to best communicate with patients (0.738)

Preventative care knowledge is essential for all medical students to learn (0.700)

Primary care knowledge is useful for all medical students (0.694)

Negative/antagonistic view of primary care (13.139)

Primary care doctors mostly manage chronic health problems (0.750)

It is impossible to be an expert in such a wide field as primary care (0.750)

I am more interested in learning the skills required for my chosen specialty rather than a general set of clinical practice skills (0.550)

Considering primary care career (11.446)

I would like to become a primary care doctor in the future (0.702)

A primary care doctor is clinically competent to provide most of the health care an individual may require (0.558)

Primary care should be a patient’s first contact with the health care system (0.482)

Primary care is not very intellectually stimulating (-0.558)

Negative/sympathetic view of primary care (10.675)

Primary care doctors are poorly valued by the rest of the medical profession (0.829)

Primary care doctors have a large work overload (0.761)

  1. ^Sample included all medical student groups. Major components (≥0.700) are listed in bold.