The impact of medical school clerkship rotations on specialty choice is assumed but unknown. A 2024 survey of first year Family Medicine residents revealed that 37% Doctor of Medicine (MD) to 43% Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) chose Family Medicine during their core clerkship rotation. This underscores the pivotal importance of earlier clinical experiences in shaping future family physicians' career choices and highlights the potential positive impact of required clerkship experiences in addressing primary care physician shortage.
Barr et al. (Sat,) studied this question.