Person-Oriented Versus Technique-Oriented Specialties: Early Preferences and Eventual Choice

BACKGROUND: Students’ selection of a specialty is an important decision in their career as a physician. While distinguishing primary care physicians from non-primary care specialists has served a purpose for how medicine is practiced and managed, considering alternative ways of grouping specialties is appropriate when exploring specialty decisions. PURPOSE: This study explored how early specialty preferences correspond to eventual specialty choice using the person-oriented versus technique-oriented taxonomy. METHOD: Participants were 349 students who completed a career plan survey during the first semester of medical school and later graduated. RESULTS: Chi-square analysis showed a statistically significant difference between students’ early preference for a person-oriented or technique-oriented specialty and the specialty they chose for their residency. CONCLUSION: Students with an early preference for person-oriented specialties were more likely to choose a person-oriented specialty, whereas students with an early preference for technique-oriented specialties were less likely to enter a technique-oriented specialty.