Anxiety Mood.  2025 Apr;21(1):26-34. 10.24986/anxmod.2025.21.1.004.

Factors Associated With Graduating Medical Students’ Specialty Preferences of Psychiatry From 2009 to 2021 at a Single Medical School

• Kim HW

• KMID: 2568060
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.24986/anxmod.2025.21.1.004

Abstract

Objective
: To investigate graduating medical students’ preferences for psychiatry as a specialty and fac- tors influencing their career choices over 13 years.
Methods
: Data were collected through an annual graduation survey conducted at a medical school in Seoul from 2009 to 2021. The survey included questions on preferred specialties and factors influencing career choices. A total of 1,468 responses were analyzed after excluding incomplete or invalid responses. Analysis of variance and independent-sample t-test were used to compare factors influencing career preferences among specialty preference groups.
Results
: Among the respondents, 7.2% selected psychiatry as their first-choice specialty, while 7.7% con- sidered it as a second or third option. Demographic characteristics of students preferring psychiatry did not significantly differ from those of the total sample or other specialty preference groups, except for surgical specialties in terms of gender distribution. Compared to students preferring other specialties, psychiatry-pre- ferring students placed significantly greater importance on the residency training environment (lifestyle factors). In contrast, they assigned significantly lower importance to academic career opportunities.
Conclusion
: Understanding factors that motivate medical graduates to develop an interest in psychiatry and choose it as their specialty can help attract talented individuals and ensure a stable pipeline of psychiatric specialists.

Keyword

Career choice; Medical students; Psychiatry