Evaluation of the status quo of the eight-year program medical doctors' career development potential

Objective By investigating the actualities of career development potential of eight-year program medical students, to explore a direction of training mode innovation aiming to improve career development potential. Methods Eight-year program medical graduates, their tutors, and directors of their clinical department in a university hospital were the subjects of the current study. Questionnaire method was applied to evaluate professional competence including clinical skills, research capabilities and integrative ability. Anonymous questionnaires were dispensed to eight-year program medical graduates for self-evaluation. Distinct anonymous questionnaires were dispensed to tutors directors for evaluation. Traditional doctoral graduates (professional degree or degree) were set as standard for comparison of specific ability of eight-year program medical students. Results 74 out of 85 (87%) questionnaires for Eight-year program medical graduates were available. 53 out of 63 (84%) questionnaires for tutors were available. 21 out of 26 (81%) questionnaires for directors of clinical departments were available. In clinical capabilities, according to 43 percent (32 persons) of the eight-year MD graduates' self-assessment and the evaluation of 94% (50 persons) mentors and 81% (17 people) department directors, eight-year program medical graduates were regarded as lower-skilled clinicians compared with doctoral graduates with professional degree. Eight-year program medical graduates were also considered with worse research capabilities than doctoral graduates with profes-sional degree by themselves (76%, n=56), their tutors (91%, n=48), and their department directors (86%, n=18). Conclusions The survey shows that to some extent, the current eight-year clinical doctoral graduates lack of career development potential, reflecting the current training mode cannot lead to the given training goals. We suggest that both clinical skills and research capabilities should be enhanced to make sure that eight-year program medical graduates deserve the title of academic or physician scientists. Key words: Eight-year program medical education; Training mode; Questionnaire; Career development potential