What happens to medical students who complete an honours year in public health and epidemiology?

Abstract

Around one-third of medical students in the UK take an intercalated honours degree in addition to their basic undergraduate course. The honours year has been reported to have a major influence on subsequent career choice; honours students show greater interest in research and laboratory medicine careers and less in general practice and public health.1,2 To examine the career choice of Nottingham medical students who completed an honours year in public health and epidemiology (including general practice). Postal questionnaire and telephone follow-up of a cohort of 266 students who entered the honours year in Public Health and Epidemiology between 1973 and 1993. Career information was available on 203 students; 78% (195) of those are currently employed in medicine. 44% were working in general practice (expected 40-45%) and 8% in public health medicine (expected 2%). Overall 19% (expected 4-11%) had chosen academic careers including nine of the 15 choosing an academic career in public health. The majority (60%) reported that the honours year had influenced their career choice, while 55% reported that the year had increased their likelihood of choosing an academic career. The honours year does encourage entry into academic and research careers in general and the type of honours year department strongly influences the subsequent choice of specialty.