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Gegrepen door de ouderengeneeskunde, maar niet tijdens de studie geneeskunde! Keuze voor de opleiding tot specialist ouderengeneeskunde

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Tijdschrift voor Gerontologie en Geriatrie

Drawn towards a career in elderly care medicine, but not till after medical school. Elderly care medicine as a career choice

In order to develop strategies for raising the interest of medical students in a career in elderly care medicine (a specialty in The Netherlands) we should start by gaining more insight into the process influencing career choices among medical students and graduates. In this qualitative study we conducted three focus group discussions with trainees in elderly care medicine and two focus group discussions with obstetrics and gynaecology trainees. We found that all trainees made their career choice after clinical exposure in the field. The elderly care medicine trainees did not make their choice until after graduation, working in temporary employment in a nursing home. The obstetrics and gynaecology trainees made their specialty choice during medical school after their clerkship. Almost all focus group participants had a very negative perception during medical school about geriatrics and elderly care medicine. Once they were employed in a nursing home they changed their minds. They came to realize the work was more interesting, more difficult, more intensive and more meaningful than they had initially thought.

Samenvatting

Om strategieën te ontwikkelen om de instroom in de opleiding tot specialist ouderengeneeskunde te vergroten hebben we meer inzicht nodig in het keuzeproces van medisch studenten en afgestudeerde artsen met betrekking tot ouderengeneeskunde. In dit kwalitatieve onderzoek zijn drie focusgroepdiscussies gehouden met arts-assistenten in opleiding tot specialist (AIOS) aan het begin van hun opleiding en, ter contrast, twee focusgroepdiscussies met AIOS en arts-assistenten niet in opleiding (ANIOS) van gynaecologie. Zowel de AIOS ouderengeneeskunde als de AIOS en ANIOS gynaecologie werden gegrepen door het vak na blootstelling aan het vakgebied, de meeste AIOS ouderengeneeskunde als zij, na hun studie, eenmaal werkzaam waren in het verpleeghuis, in een tijdelijke baan. De AIOS en ANIOS gynaecologie maakten hun keuze ten tijde van hun studie. Vrijwel alle focusgroepdeelnemers hadden als geneeskundestudent een negatief beeld van het specialisme ouderengeneeskunde. Eenmaal werkzaam in het verpleeghuis werd het beeld bijgesteld. Ze vonden het veel leuker, moeilijker, intensiever en zinvoller dan gedacht.

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Correspondence to A. A. Meiboom.

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Meiboom, A.A., de Vries, H., Hesselink, B.A.M. et al. Gegrepen door de ouderengeneeskunde, maar niet tijdens de studie geneeskunde! Keuze voor de opleiding tot specialist ouderengeneeskunde . Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatr 45, 10–18 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12439-013-0056-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12439-013-0056-y

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