What should a medical student be like to be a successful doctor?

A study revealed that there are factors that determine a doctor’s chances of success in his work.

Knowing whether a college student will make a good doctor is a near-impossible task. However, there are a series of characteristics common to outstanding medical students. This is what a group of researchers from McMaster University (Hamilton, Canada) have found. Profile of graduates who will be most successful in their careersSpecifically, they focused on doctors who performed the tests from Anglo-Saxon countries, despite their training at a non-English-speaking academic institution.

To identify the best doctors of international origin and thus know the professionals most prepared to practice medicine, the team of scientists Searched 11 databases – including Medline, Lilacs and Embase – with the aim of finding studies based on predictors of success or failure of international physicians. Under this hypothesis, the authors found 25 studies, with 375,549 participants, that addressed this issue, most of them from the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.

After extracting the data, the researchers compiled the results into: Six different categories: Qualification tests, certification tests for obtaining a license to work as a doctor, successful entry into residency, professional permanence in the country, disciplinary procedures – receiving complaints – and results of clinical practice – deaths related to the doctor or the quality of prescriptions made.

Among the success factors, researchers point to a good level of high confidence to face and overcome academic challenges; using planning, monitoring and evaluation strategies in the learning process; making a call on the first attempt or continuing in the country of origin. They also point to the ability to take a positive attitude in the academic environment. While the accumulation of criticism from patients, making medication errors or getting bad grades were mentioned Failure.

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Female doctors are more compliant, but more male talent is retained

After adjusting for risk factors and pooling data from studies, the scientists found that Women have higher success rates in passing the qualifying exam. And the certificate than men. According to the researchers, this may be due to their “superior performance in subjects such as obstetrics and gynecology and stronger skills in data collection, communication, clinical skills and note-taking.” It was also related to Mastering English and achieving high scores in subsequent exams -As with the USMLE- with a higher pass rate on qualifying exams in countries like Canada. Those who have Resume training Or participate in skills assessment programs.

On the contrary, when it comes to staying in the country, in the case of Canada, they were menGraduates in the last five years and those who completed their residency had the greatest number of opportunities. Meanwhile, in reference to clinical practice, in the United States, Internationally-based physicians had lower mortality rates than local physicians. Naturally, this received a higher percentage of complaints, both in North America and in Australia.

Moreover, the study revealed that Race or age is irrelevant. To succeed in a medical career. Naturally, the most recent graduate is preferred when it comes to finding a job as a doctor in any of the countries analyzed.


Anglo-Saxon countries have a high proportion of foreign doctors.

More and more doctors are deciding to leave their home country to look for work in another country. In the case of Spain, Medical talent flight due to poor working conditionsWhile the highest salaries are on the other side of the border.

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Anglo-Saxon countries typically offer higher salaries, making them desirable for doctors in most parts of the world. This can be seen in And the diversity of its medical formsIn the UK, 33% of doctors graduated from non-English universities. In Canada, 24% of professionals are foreign, while in the US it is 25%. The figure is even higher in Australia, where more than half of people practising medicine were born elsewhere.

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