Abstract:

Medical vocation is believed to be based on an interaction between the individual and the society and therefore between the will of self-fulfilment and the way medicine is present in the society. Two basic systems of social insertion support this interaction: education system and mass-media. The aim of this study is to evaluate the influencing factors of medical vocation with a sample of first year medical school students in the University of Granada, Spain.

The main results showed that in most cases the three education systems and the mass-media, highly affect medical vocation. Both males and females showed a significant statistical correlation with transversal values such as healing or cooperation. However, no correlation was observed with personal imitation, research, family tradition or the professor figure.

Regarding genre differences, a statistical significant correlation between vocation in males and the three levels of the education system and written and audiovisual mass media has been found. In the female group, there is only statistical correlation with the first and the second level of the education system. The study revealed not only different patterns of sex behaviour but also a change in the paradigm of the classic factors which determine the vocational decision of studying a degree in Medicine.

Keywords:

medical vocation, mass media, school.