Perceptions of preparedness for doctor roles and the medical profession in Korean graduating medical students: A 13-year trend analysis.

Introduction: Sustainability of a medical workforce that meets the society's evolving healthcare needs relies on how well medical schools prepare students for the psychological and professional demands of practice. It is crucial to understand medical graduates' perceptions of their readiness for doctor roles and the medical profession, along with factors influencing these perceptions. However, research in this area is limited, and few studies examined how these perceptions develop over time, restricting our understanding of their impact on students' attitudes toward patient care and career decisions. This study addresses this gap by examining graduating Korean medical students' preparedness for various doctor roles, alongside their views on medicine and the medical profession, over a 13-year period.

Methods: Data from 1,430 graduating medical students from 2009 to 2021 were analyzed on their preparedness for different doctor roles and their perceptions of medicine and the profession. We conducted independent sample t-tests to examine the differences by gender and entry type and Kendall's tau correlation to analyze the trends in participants' responses across time.

Results: Graduating medical students perceived themselves as most prepared for the communicator role and least prepared for the community leader role. Over time, this preparedness for different roles increased. Meanwhile, graduating medical students highly agreed that doctors are less respected than in the past and least agreed that success depends on their hard work. Across 13 years, they perceived a decline in social respect for doctors and difficulties in maintaining work-life balance and considered the significance of primary healthcare low.

Conclusion: Graduating medical students' preparedness for different doctor roles varied, and their perceptions of the profession have somewhat deteriorated over the past 13 years. These findings call for medical schools to enhance education and better prepare medical graduates with adequate knowledge, skills, and attitudes who can meet society's healthcare needs.