Effect of the discipline of formal faculty advisors on medical student experience and career interest.

Objective: To examine whether the discipline (family medicine vs other specialty) of formally assigned faculty advisors affected medical student experience and career interest.

Design: Survey.

Setting: University of Calgary in Alberta.

Participants: A total of 104 medical students from the graduating class of 2011.

Main Outcome Measures: Number of times medical students met with their advisors, topics of discussions, interest in family medicine, and overall medical school experience. For binary categorical variables, χ2 tests of significance were computed, and t tests were used for count and Likert-scale variables.

Results: Overall, 89 (86%) surveys were returned. Significant differences were noted when the discipline of the faculty advisor (family medicine vs Royal College specialty) was considered. Family medicine faculty advisors met with their students more often (P = .03) and were more likely to have a beneficial effect on the medical school experience (P = .005). Having a relationship with a family medicine faculty advisor significantly increased family medicine career interest (P = .01), although a faculty advisor in any other discipline did not erode family medicine interest. The discipline of the faculty advisor had no statistically significant influence on a student's intended selection of family medicine in the Canadian Resident Matching Service match.

Conclusion: Family medicine faculty advisors appear particularly active in their role as mentors and appear beneficial to the medical student experience. Career interest in family medicine was enhanced by being paired with a family medicine advisor and not eroded by an advisor from another specialty.