Impact of MiniMedJob as medical career intervention program

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Medical career exploration is a continuous process that one should invest on throughout their academic life. However, lack of resources and time are the main barriers in establishing suitable intervention. Therefore, the needs for flexible intervention are crucial, as it can improve medical career choices. This study aimed to improve career self-efficacy and to open the insight of medical students in choosing a variety of medical careers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study was conducted using quasi-experimental study design with nonequivalent control groups design (pretest-posttest) using a modified model from a preexisting medical career intervention (MedJob™) labeled as MiniMedJob™. A total of 122 1(st)-year medical students from Sriwijaya University, Indonesia, were voluntarily joining the study. The effectiveness of MiniMedJob™ in increasing students’ self-efficacy was evaluated using Wilcoxon and Mann–Whitney statistical tests using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 24.0, Armonk, New York. RESULTS: MiniMedJob™ was proven effective to improve medical students’ career self-efficacy (P = 0,000). The mean of the pretest and posttest for the intervention group was 77.79 ± 10.12 and 87 ± 8.36, respectively. While for the control group, the mean of pretest was 87.00 ± 8.36 and for the posttest group was 83.55 ± 7.96. Despite the higher score of the intervention group compared to control group, statistically, it was insignificantly different (P = 0,084). CONCLUSIONS: MiniMedJob™ is proven effective in improving medical students career self-efficacy despite their shorter period and fewer activities compared to preexisting intervention model.