engleski

Research Involvement and Specialty Choice of Graduate Medical Students in Croatia

AIM: To explore involvement in research, choice of specialty and intention to emigrate among graduating medical students in Croatia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical students of the final undergraduate year from all Croatian Medical Schools (Zagreb, Rijeka, Osijek and Split, generation 2003/2004) were surveyed with a questionnaire designed for this study. RESULTS: About 1 in 4 (23%) medical students in Croatia have been involved in scientific projects during undergraduate study. However, only about a third of them (9% of all students) succeeded in publishing their results. The students identified poor project management as the most common reason for publication failure. When entering medical schools, 32% of students had a desired specialty, as compared to 89% at the time of graduation. Specialty choice significantly varied among the four medical schools in Croatia, but internal medicine, pediatrics and surgery are usually highly preferred in all schools. About a third of graduate students are willing to emigrate, usually for better earnings, with neighboring Slovenia as the most desirable target country. CONCLUSION: There is a clear need for improvement in management of research projects in Croatia, under which enthusiastic medical students would be able to eventually publish the results of their work and retain their interest in science. The analysis of trends in desired specialties throughout the undergraduate study suggests an increased interest in the 'controllable lifestyle' specialties. One third of all students are ready to leave the country, but most of them would prefer to remain geographically close to their homeland.

research involvement; specialty; medical students; Croatia

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