Impact of programme experiences on career aspirations in medical students

Medical students are exposed to a number of different medical and surgical disciplines and practitioners during their medical degree. These clinical experiences help develop clinical skills, professional identity formation and career planning. It is important to understand the impact of these clinical experiences for the purposes of programme development and design, but this is currently not systematically collated at Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS). This impact assessment research address this by ascertaining the perspectives of students at the end of all clinical experiences at KMMS at the end of their programme.

The first cohort of medical students at KMMS reported positive and influential impact from their clinical experiences on initial career plans. In line with the School's mission, almost a third of surveyed graduates (29%) intend to go into general practice, higher than the current workforce proportions. Further work is required to assess trends in subsequent cohorts and longer term career outcomes.