The main motivational and value attitudes of pediatricians in choosing a vocation

Introduction. Determining the trajectory of a future career and understanding one’s occupational mission imposes responsibility on the life in the individual and society as a whole. Among many vocations, one of the most difficult, not only in terms of maste­ring, the need for constant updating of special knowledge, but also because of many moral and ethical aspects, is the occupation of a doctor.

The purpose of the work is to identify the leading factors of motivation for professional self-determination of pediatricians.

Materials and methods. One hundred six pediatricians practicing in Moscow, graduated from 35 medical universities of the country took part in the work. An online questionnaire was used for sociological analysis. The respondents were selected using the “snowball” method.

Results. Leading factors encouraging the choice of pediatrics as a an vocation were found to be the interest of the person himself in the profession (67%) and the opportunity to help people (19.8%). This indicates the psychological motives of a person in choosing a profession to dominate over social motives. The prestige of the profession and the influence of parents are not considered the main motives for choosing (4.7% and 2.8%, respectively). Most of the pediatricians surveyed (63.2%) are completely satisfied with their chosen profession, which indicates a conscious decision at the time of admission and a desire to develop further within the chosen vocation. Due to their own choice, 95.3% of respondents plan to work in pediatrics in the future. 64.2% of respondents see the main benefit for other people and society in improving children’s health.

Conclusion. The dominant motives of professional self-determination of pediatricians, determining the choice of a future specialty, are personal conscious goal-setting in choosing a medical vocation and the opportunity to help children. Working as a pediatrician guarantees a high degree of satisfaction from the chosen path and daily activities.

Contribution:
Antonova A.I., Shuraeva L.Yu., Komarova O.V. — concept and design of the study;
Antonova A.I. — data acquisition and analysis, statistical processing;
Antonova A.I., Shuraeva L.Yu. — writing the text;
Shuraeva L.Yu., Komarova O.V., Iontseva M.V. — editing the text.
All co-authors — approval of the final version of the article, responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the article.

Acknowledgment. The study had no sponsorship.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: September 27, 2024
Accepted: October 08, 2024
Published: November 12, 2024

1. Kahvo M., Whelan R., Vallabhaneni P. Why choose paediatrics? A scoping review of factors affecting the choice of paediatrics as a career. Eur. J. Pediatr. 2023; 182(1): 9–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-022-04659-6

2. Khan S. The impact of gendered experiences on female medical students’ specialty choice: A systematic review. Am. J. Surg. 2023; 225(1): 33–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2022.10.023

3. Sönmez B., Gül D., Gümüş C. The relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction, career adaptability and career construction in nursing students: A career construction theory perspective. Nurse Educ. Pract. 2024; 78: 104017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2024.104017

4. Alikin M., Kangur A., Lukyanchenko N. Value-motivational attitude of medical workers to professional activities: general and typological. Organizastionnaya psikhologiya. 2023; 13(3): 227–53. https://doi.org/10.17323/2312-5942-2023-13-3-227-253 https://elibrary.ru/ktomwf (in Russian)

5. Liu J., Jackson S.S., Xie J., Rowland M.J., Michelson C.D. National survey of combined pediatrics-anesthesiology residents and graduates: factors contributing to changing career aspirations over time. Anesth. Analg. 2023; 137(6): 1250–6. https://doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0000000000006308

6. Alqanatish J., Alfadhel A., Albelali A., Alqahtani D. Paediatric career decision: a literature review of motivational factors. Sudan J. Paediatr. 2023; 23(2): 112–25. https://doi.org/10.24911/SJP.106-1696066895

7. Osipova N.G., Semina T.V. The doctor’s personality in modern society: the ideal type and professional deformation. Vestnik Moscovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 18. Sotsiologiya i politologiya. 2017; 23(3): 4–29. https://elibrary.ru/zivxon (in Russian)

8. Sorokina A.N. Problems of motivation in choosing a profession of a medical worker. Uspekhi sovremennoy nauki. 2017; 5(2): 87–90. https://elibrary.ru/ygxflz (in Russian)

9. Dogotar O.A., Ryltseva L.P., Sopetik V.S. Choice of a medical profession: motivation of applicants and dynamics of its development in higher education. Vestnik poslediplomnogo meditsinskogo obrazovaniya. 2021; (4): 3–6. https://elibrary.ru/bzdlda (in Russian)

10. Kochetova Yu.Yu., Leonov V.E. The system of personal and professional values of a medical worker as a factor of professional formation. Mezhkulturnaya kommunikatsiya v obrazovanii i meditsine. 2022; (3): 49–60. https://elibrary.ru/kxvujk (in Russian)

11. Surovtseva K.A., Andronova T.A., Bondar G.D. About motivation the choice of the medical profession. Mezhdunarodniy zhurnal prikladnikh i fundamentalnikh issledovaniy. 2019; (2): 53–6. https://elibrary.ru/yzfidb (in Russian)

12. Grigorev G.I., Efremov R.E., Aprosimov L.A. Analysis of the main motives of choosing the future profession by students of the institute of medicine. Vestnik Severo-Vostochnogo Federalnogo Universiteta imeni M.K. Ammosova. Seriya: Meditsinskie nauki. 2017; (2): 5–12. https://elibrary.ru/zegaqn (in Russian)

13. Nor-Arevyan O.A., Mosienko O.S. Motivation of professional choice and prestige of the medical profession in the assessments of Russian doctors (based on sociological research). Gosudarstvennoe i munitsipalnoe upravlenie. Uchenye zapiski. 2018; (3): 205–11. https://doi.org/10.22394/2079-1690-2018-1-3-205-211 https://elibrary.ru/pguwmy (in Russian)

14. Balakina Yu.A., Sokolova A.V. Factors of attractiveness and motives for choosing a doctor’s profession. Byulleten meditsinskikh internet-konferentsiy. 2018; 8(3): 94–5. https://elibrary.ru/xoalqt (in Russian)

15. Fetiskin N.P., Kozlov V.V., Manuilov G.M. Socio-Psychological Diagnostics of Personality and Small Groups [Sotsial’no-psikhologicheskaya diagnostika lichnosti i malykh grupp]. Moscow: Institute of Psychotherapy; 2002. (in Russian)

16. Prescott S., Watson A., Young C.D., Peterson C., Thomas D., Anderson M., et al. A descriptive study on holistic nursing education: Student perspectives on integrating mindfulness, spirituality, and professionalism. Nurse Educ. Today. 2024; 143: 106379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2024.106379

17. Gradišnik M., Fekonja Z., Vrbnjak D. Nursing students’ handling patient safety incidents during clinical practice: A retrospective qualitative study. Nurse Educ. Today. 2024; 132: 105993. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2023.105993

18. Santiago I.S., de Castro E. Castro S., de Brito A.P.A., Sanches D., Quintanilha L.F., Avena K.M., et al. Stress and exhaustion among medical students: a prospective longitudinal study on the impact of the assessment period on medical education. BMC Med. Educ. 2024; 24(1): 630. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05617-6

19. Shayya A., Young Y. End-of-life medical decisions: the link between sociodemographic characteristics and treatment preferences. Am. J. Hosp. Palliat. Care. 2024; 41(10): 1173–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/10499091231218988

20. Dixon G., Kind T., Wright J., Stewart N., Sims A., Barber A. Factors that Influence Underrepresented in Medicine (UIM) medical students to pursue a career in academic pediatrics. J. Natl Med. Assoc. 2021; 113(1): 95–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnma.2020.07.014

21. Bernburg M., Baresi L., Groneberg D., Mache S. Does psychosocial competency training for junior physicians working in pediatric medicine improve individual skills and perceived job stress. Eur. J. Pediatr. 2016; 175(12): 1905–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-016-2777-8

22. Sönmez B., Gül D., Gümüş C. The relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction, career adaptability and career construction in nursing students: A career construction theory perspective. Nurse Educ. Pract. 2024; 78: 104017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2024.104017

23. Daltro M.R., Guerra Júnior P., Santos L.R. Pediatricians’ perceptions of gender issues that influence the choice of medical specialty. Rev. Bras. Med. Trab. 2023; 21(3): e20221002.