Primary care career choices and medical student learning styles

The study reported here focused on the influence of medical students' learning styles (that is, how they prefer to receive and use information in learning and problem-solving situations) on (a) their choice of a medical career type and (b) their sources of information and influence in making that choice. The results suggest that those students with learning styles that are associated with primary care careers are also those who are dissatisfied with a traditional basic science curriculum and are influenced more than the average student by concrete work experiences, as well as identification with role models, in making a career decision. Among the implications of these results for medical school admissions, curricula, and faculty is the possibility that more students might consider primary care careers if more primary care experiences and role models were available in medical school.