Ayşe ÖZKAN, Ebru TURHAN
Anatolian Current Medical Journal - 2026;8(1):55-60
Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the career expectations, specialty preferences, and attitudes toward the department of physiology among medical students. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted among 262 medical students at İzmir Bakırçay University Faculty of Medicine in the spring term of 2025. Data were collected using a questionnaire covering demographic characteristics, motivations for choosing medical school, career plans, and perceptions regarding physiology. Data were analyzed using SPSS; descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests were applied. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of participants was 20.8+/-2.2 years; 48.1% were female and 51.9% were male. Of the students, 78.2% reported choosing medical school willingly. The most common motivations were the desire to help people (43.5%), salary expectations (42.7%), and professional satisfaction (42.7%). Overall, 98.1% of the students planned to specialize after graduation. Surgical sciences were the most preferred specialty group (55.0%), while only 6.1% considered basic sciences. Only 5.0% reported considering physiology as a specialty. Clinical-term students were significantly more likely than pre-clinical students to agree that physiology offers lower professional satisfaction and salaries compared to other specialties (p=0.001; p=0.000). Conclusion: The majority of medical students plan to pursue specialization after graduation; however, interest in basic medical sciences, particularly physiology, remains low. Enhancing integration of basic sciences with clinical training, expanding research opportunities, and improving the attractiveness of academic careers in physiology may increase student interest in this field.
