Does it affect medical students career choices?
Kamien BA; Bassiri M; Kamien M Royal Perth Hospital. OBJECTIVES: To study the frequency of negative comments (badmouthing) made by teaching hospital specialists about metropolitan and rural general practitioners (GPs) and by GPs about hospital specialists and the impact of these comments on medical students’ intended career choice. In this study badmouthing is defined as unwarranted, negative, denigrating, even sarcastic comments made by doctors about other doctors. METHODS: A retrospective questionnaire survey of 170 5th and 6th year medical students from The University of Western Australia conducted in 1997. The questionnaire was a modified version of one developed by medical educators at the University of Washington School of Medicine, using both ranked and open questions. RESULTS: Overall students reported either no comments or hearing balanced comment from both teaching hospital specialists and GPs. Seventy-eight percent of all students reported at least one negative comment per y
