Traveling by winding roads or highways: Stability of medical students' specialty preferences over time

Introduction Medical students switch career preferences during medical school and likely distinguish themselves in stability of preference over time. The purpose of our study was to gain insight in career paths stability of medical students. Method The authors conducted a longitudinal, four sessions interview study with medical students with three intervals over a three and a half-year period. From all 24 participants the first and second career preferences were documented, analyzed and we calculated a stability score, to interpret career preference stability. Results Three different pathways were found: a 'winding road' with low stability (0-7 points); a 'country road' with medium stability (8-14 points); and a 'highway' with high stability (15-22 points). Conclusion This study provides a longitudinal view of how the stability of career preference, including the first and second career preference, evolves over time. While we only studied a small sample, the characterization may hold when larger samples are studied.