Assessing Canadian medical students' familiarity with and interest in pursuing a career in community medicine.

Objectives: Following the SARS outbreak, large gaps in the public health workforce have been identified. This study sought to understand the perceptions and attitudes of Canadian medical students with regard to public health to determine how this impacted their choice towards a career in Community Medicine (CM).

Methods: Five focus groups of 11-12 medical students from all years were recruited at McMaster University, Université de Sherbrooke, University of Toronto, University of Manitoba and the University of British Columbia.