Attitude towards the medical profession among higher secondary students in relation to medical aptitude parental influence peer influence and perceived social expectations

Abstract

Attitude towards the medical profession includes concepts, motives or beliefs associated with the profession of medical science. A profession that challenges the intellectual competency of the aspirant to qualify- with soaring expectations from family and society- the demands of the career entail the individual to possess an appropriate attitude and a realistic understanding of it. The current study explores the role of medical aptitude, parental influence, peer influence and perceived social expectations in the formation of attitude towards the medical profession and their differences among higher secondary students based on their gender and type of pre-university college. The study-cum-survey employed a quantitative approach using the paradigm of post-positivism. The participants comprised of 396 second-year pre-university students from colleges of Bangalore South, who were selected by convenience sampling, with Physics, Chemistry and Biology as their core subjects. The findings reveal peer influence to be essential in the development of professionalism and a sense of service mindedness. Parental influence and the higher secondary adolescent s perceived social expectations act as significant predictors in the formation of favourable attitude. However, gender and the type of pre-university colleges bear no significant difference with respect to their attitude towards the profession. The study has set a base on what needs to be focussed in our country on the next generation of medical professionals. It is hoped that educational and medical institutions, policy and curriculum drafters, parents and teachers realise that a combination of sound medical aptitude, parental influence, peer influence and perceived social expectations resonates in the formation of a favourable attitude towards medical science. Assessing those higher secondary students qualifying into medical science would enable to analyse differences that existed, if any, in their entry-level and post-qualifying attitude towards the medical profession.