Early experiences as intrinsic, extrinsic, and interpersonal motivators that influence first year medical school students’ career choice for medicine: a qualitative study

Research is needed to better understand the early experiences that motivate and influence students to choose careers in medicine. We addressed this research gap with an exploratory qualitative study that included four focus groups conducted among 17 first year medical students at one private US medical school. The investigators were heterogenous with respect to race, sex, educational and professional background. The moderator’s guide included questions about students’ early experiences, prior to entering medical school, and in the first year. We open-coded the transcripts and applied Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis, permitting us to synthesize the ways that students’ early experiences serve as motivators to pursue a career in medicine. We organized themes based on a theoretical framework that categorizes motivators as intrinsic, extrinsic, and interpersonal. Participants noted the importance of intrinsic motivators, such as ability to have societal impact through their work with patients; self-efficacy in their ability to enter and contribute to the medical field; and their personal interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Interpersonal motivators included, family and community interactions, mentorships, and role models. Few students mentioned extrinsic motivators, such as job and financial security. Most students reported they were influenced primarily by intrinsic and interpersonal motivators. An implication of these findings is that medical school programs that respond directly to students’ intrinsic motivators (e.g. passion for community service) and foster additional interpersonal motivation (e.g. rich mentoring programs) could help support positive outcomes at the student and institutional levels.