Thresholds of becoming: an exploration of threshold concepts as a means to support professional identity formation in competency-based curricula.

Inherent in every clinical preceptor's role is the ability to understand the learning needs of individual trainees, enabling them to meet their potential. Competency-based medical education frameworks have been developed to this end, but efforts to identify behaviours and activities that define competence are based on mapping knowledge, skills and ability, which can be difficult to integrate into a comprehensive picture of who the trainee is becoming. Professional identity formation, in contrast, prioritizes attention to who trainees are becoming, but provision of detailed guidance to preceptors on how to best support this form of development is challenging.

Which students will choose a career in psychiatry?

Objective: In Canada, availability of and access to mental health professionals is limited. Only 6.6% of practising physicians are psychiatrists, a situation unlikely to improve in the foreseeable future.

Obstetrics and gynaecology as a career choice: a cohort study of canadian medical students.

Objective: to describe the characteristics of medical students interested in obstetrics and gynaecology and to build a model that predicts which of these students will choose obstetrics and gynaecology as their career.

Study Design: students were surveyed in 2002, 2003, and 2004 at the commencement of their medical studies. Data were collected on career choice, attitudes to practice, and demographics at medical school entry and on career choice at medical school exit.

An analysis of long-term outcomes of the impact of curriculum: a comparison of the three- and four-year medical school curricula.

Purpose: To determine the long-term effects of curriculum length on physician competence, the authors compared the performance of graduates from the University of Calgary (U of C; a school with a three-year curriculum) with matched samples from the University of Alberta (U of A) and from other Canadian schools with a four-year curriculum.

Method: The authors used data from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, Physician Achievement Review (PAR) program to determine curricular outcomes. The authors analyzed PAR program data, comprising reviews from medical colleagues, nonphysician coworkers (e.

Whether or wither some specialties: a survey of Canadian medical student career interest.

Background: Given the looming shortage of physicians in Canada, we wished to determine how closely the career preference of students entering Canadian medical schools was aligned with the current physician mix in Canada.

Methods: Career choice information was collected from a survey of 2,896 Canadian medical students upon their entry to medical school. The distribution of career choices of survey respondents was compared to the current physician specialty mix in Canada.

Choosing a career in psychiatry: factors associated with a career interest in psychiatry among Canadian students on entry to medical school.

Objective: To report the proportion of Canadian medical students interested in a career in psychiatry at medical school entry and to describe the unique demographics and career influences associated with this early interest.

Methods: From 2001 to 2004, during the first 2 weeks of medical school, a 41-item survey of career choice, demographics, and attitudes toward various aspects of medical practice was distributed to all students in 18 classes at 8 Canadian medical schools. Associations between early career interest, demographics, and career influences were explored.

Emergency medicine as a career choice: a descriptive study of Canadian medical students.

Background: Studies indicate that a student's career interest at medical school entry is related to his or her ultimate career. We sought to determine the level of interest in emergency medicine among students at the time of medical school entry, and to describe characteristics associated with students primarily interested in emergency medicine.

Methods: We surveyed students in 18 medical school classes from 8 Canadian universities between 2001 and 2004 at the commencement of their studies.

Choosing a career in surgery: factors that influence Canadian medical students' interest in pursuing a surgical career.

Background: Interest in both general surgery and surgical subspecialties has been declining among Canadian medical students. Studies have shown that a student's desire to practise surgery is largely determined before entry into medical school. As part of a larger study of students' career preferences throughout medical school, we sought to identify the level of interest in surgical careers and the factors that influence a student's interest in pursuing a surgical career.