Specific Career Preferences among Homeopathic Undergraduates and Fresh Graduates in West Bengal, India

Abstract

During medical school, medical students are exposed to various career opportunities. Though such studies are ample in mainstream medicine, but are sparse in homeopathy. To recognize the most preferable career options of homeopathy students and to identify the influential factors behind choice of career and their future practice location. Cross-sectional survey conducted on four government homeopathic schools in West Bengal, India on 606 undergraduates and fresh graduates in December 2013.  Career preference questionnaire enquiring about career preferences and to what extent the decision was influenced by a set of given variables. Most frequently chosen career options were homeopathic medical officer (32.67%), private practitioner (28.55%), researcher (20.63%) and lecturer (13.69%). The results were subjected to regression analysis to test for associations and differences. The variables under consideration in this study,
except gender and academic years, were considered as important (b = 0.09 – 0.18;
OR = 1.10 – 1.19; SE = 0.01 – 0.02; p < 0.0001) for deciding the future practice location. ‘Experience at medical schools’, ‘advice from others’, and ‘considering future work conditions’ seemed to influence all the career choices significantly (p < 0.05); however, strikingly, the career option of lecturer was not found to be influenced significantly by any of these three or others. The study identified areas demanding urgent attention and the findings may help policy makers and academicians to rethink on distributing workforce appropriately. Further studies should focus on job satisfaction of homeopathic professionals and reasons behind such choices.

Keywords: Career preference, homeopathy, practice, undergraduates,
fresh graduates, India