Abstract

Background: Motivation of a medical doctor in the career preference has been developed during study, in which type of career determine is as to support health development. The study aimed to provide basic data describing medical students' career preference and their based motivation. Methods: It was an observational study conducted during March to September 2014. Samples were all final-year medical students at Airlangga University period 2009. Data were collected by questionnaires and focus group discussions. Respondents were asked about career preference and motivation in choosing career path. The data were analyzed by chi-square and thematic content analysis. Results: The response rate was 95.2% (n = 180). Career as a clinician was preferred by the majority of respondents (62.2%), with the highest interest in internal medicine specialization (20.4%). Social background of students (the origin, parental education and profession, the source of funds), academic ability (IPK), experience during clinical rotation are not related to career choices (clinicians and non-clinicians). They expressed the balance of career and family lives, interest at particular field study and salary were reasons to choose a specialist. Conclusion: The main motivation in choosing career path is the balance of work and family life; interest in a particular field study and the salary. Recommendation: Academic institution, Medicine Faculty the University of Airlangga are expected to be able to motivate their students by improving the teaching methods and create an academic environment that supports the growth of interest in studying both the nonclinical and clinical medicine field study.