“ 49 % of respondents said they would support their child going into medicine, 32 % would leave it to the child entirely and 19 % would discourage their child from entering medicine— mostly citing the hours and case load as the primary reasons.”
ANSWERING THE CALL TO MEDICINE
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following parents went to steelworkers, who had 155 times the rate of the general population( having lived in Pittsburgh for several years, that statistic conforms to my observational bias.)
Do physician parents want their children to become doctors? A more recent Medscape survey of 726 U. S. based doctors reported that 34 % of respondents already had children in practice or in medical school. Forty-nine percent of respondents said they would support their child going into medicine, 32 % would leave it to the child entirely and 19 % would discourage their child from entering medicine— mostly citing the hours and case load as the primary reasons. 2
“ 49 % of respondents said they would support their child going into medicine, 32 % would leave it to the child entirely and 19 % would discourage their child from entering medicine— mostly citing the hours and case load as the primary reasons.”
The pattern has been more significant in the past, but rarely reported. A study from Sweden done between 2001 and 2016 found that one in five physicians in that country had a parent who was a doctor. That number was three times greater than what had been noted for the three decades prior. At least in that country, this same effect was not found with attorneys. 3
Prior generations had a stereotypical view of physicians, i. e., white males. There was even more regard if the doctor had a few white hairs. Over the past several decades, we have seen the percentage of women in medical school increase to more than 50 % for the academic year 2023-2024. This has been rising over the last several decades and witnesses the great impact of women physicians on the career choices of their daughters … and sons.
The American Medical Association( AMA) reports too that for the 2023-2024 academic year, 12.7 % of the matriculating class was Hispanic or Latinx. That same year, 10 % of the freshman class was Black. Studies from the American Association of Medical Colleges
( AAMC) have demonstrated better health outcomes among Black patients whose physicians were also Black. The same appears to be true for other patient populations who prefer a doctor with whom they can relate. With this 2023-2024 class, we are now approaching a medical student mix that more closely resembles the population at large. 4, 5
However, with the 2023 U. S. Supreme Court decision to restrict higher education institutions from considering an applicant’ s race, gender or ethnicity in admissions, there has been concern for the health impacts of race / gender / ethnicity diversity between practitioner and patient. Current additional federal regulations are likely to make this worse.
Over time, the“ inherited” interest in medical careers will extend beyond white male physicians, and more recently with white female doctors, to impact the offspring of Black and of Hispanic medical students. As medical careers become“ inherited” by merit to broader groups, we can expect greater physician satisfaction and healthier patients.
References:
1
BUI Q, Cain-Miller C, The jobs you’ re most likely to inherit from your mother and father, New York Times, Nov. 22, 2017
2
Nelson, J, Do doctors what their babies to grow up to be physicians, Feb. 07, 2023, Medscape, https:// www. medscape. com / viewarticle / 987962( last accessed Mar 1, 2025)
3
Polyakova M, Persson P, Hofmann K, Jena AB, Does medicine run in the family— evidence from three generations of physicians in Sweden: retrospective observational study. BMJ 2020; 371: m4453
4
Boyle, Patrick, Do Black patient fare better with Black doctors? June 6, 2023. https:// www. aamc. org / news / do-black-patients-fare-better-black-doctors( last accessed Mar 1, 2025)
5
Henry TA, Medical student diversity sees uptick— for now. Dec. 21, 2023, American Medical Association https:// www. ama-assn. org / education / medical-school-diversity / medical-student-diversity-sees-uptick-now( last accessed Mar 1, 2023
Dr. James is an internist / pediatrician seeing patients at Family Health Center.
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