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.