Exploring motivational and contextual factors influencing medical career choice: a theory-informed study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Career choice in medicine represents a multidimensional decision influenced by motivational, emotional, and sociocultural dynamics. Understanding how these factors interact is essential for developing educational environments that nurture sustained professional commitment. Drawing on the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) and the Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT), this study explored how self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, task values, and contextual supports shape medical career motivation among first-year medical students.

Methods

A cross-sectional quantitative design was used, involving 297 first-year medical students at a public university in western Türkiye. Data were collected online and anonymously during the 2022-2023 academic year, using a researc

SUBMITTER: Oncu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12727634 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature