Sex had many indirect influences upon generic motivations.
Coming from a medical family had no influence upon generic motivations.
This also allows generic motivations to be expressed more clearly and more obviously.
A British study [ 25] also reported that the generic motivations of medical school applicants could be assigned to four dimensions: Indispensability, Helping People, Respect and Science.
Generic motivations for medicine as a career can be assessed using the Medical Situations Questionnaire, without undue response bias due to demand characteristics.
Although of interest, studies of the motivations to specialise in a particular area, or discipline, say little about the generic motivations for being a doctor, and every speciality requires firstly that one becomes a doctor.
There is clear evidence of secular trends in the popularity of specialties for women [ 10, 11] to what some authors have pointed to as generic motivations and personality factors.
One of particular interest in the context of generic motivations for studying medicine, concerns empathy, which might be expected to underpin aspects of the doctor-patient relationship [ 28, 29].
Our background factors therefore included measures of personality, empathy, stress, learning styles, and academic achievement in different subjects, in order to assess the extent and the nature of the influences on generic motivations.
