[Changes in the professional expectations and attitudes of medical students toward the preventive and social aspects of education and medical practice]. / Cambios en las aspiraciones profesionales y en las actitudes de los estudiantes de medicina hacia los aspectos preventivos y sociales de la enseñanza y del ejercicio médicos.

A prospective review was made of the occupational aspirations of a group of Mexican medical students and of their attitudes toward the preventive and social aspects of medical education and practice in order to determine whether they had changed in any way. In the pattern of their occupational aspirations, no changes were seen in their preference for specialization versus general medicine; the trend toward research and private practice had declined, but not toward full-time job in a public institution. In regard to their attitudes, there was increased recognition of the importance of social factors and a loss of respect for the public health disciplines and the effectiveness of preventive measures. As a possible explanation for this development, it is posited that the education process is not designed to reinforce attitudes in favor of prevention. Finally, recommendations are made for the ongoing study of these matters as of central importance to the planning and evaluation of the education process.

Cambios en las aspiraciones profesionales y en las actitudes de los estudiantes de medicina hacia los aspectos preventivos y sociales de la enseñanza y del ejercicio médicos / Changes in the professional expectations and attitudes of medical students toward the preventive and social aspects of education and medical practice

A prospective review was made of the occupational aspirations of a group of Mexican medical students and of their attitudes toward the preventive and social aspects of medical education and practice in order to determine whether they had changed in any way. In the pattern of their occupational aspirations, no changes were seen in their preference for specialization versus general medicine; the trend toward research and private practice had declined, but not toward full-time job in a public institution. In regard to their attitudes, there was increased recognition of the importance of social factors and a loss of respect for the public health disciplines and the effectiveness of preventive measures. As a possible explanation for this development, it is posited that the education process is not designed to reinforce attitudes in favor of prevention. Finally, recommendations are made for the ongoing study of these matters as of central importance to the planning and evaluation of the education process (Au)