According to Medscape's 2022 medical student lifestyle report, 87 percent of medical school students said a desire to help people in need was among the top reasons they chose medical school, while 57 percent said future income was an important part of the decision.
Medscape's report surveyed 2,182 medical students in April and May on issues including debt, burnout, motivations and more.
The largest percentage of respondents (13 percent) are specializing in internal medicine, with 4 percent studying orthopedics, 3 percent studying ophthalmology and 1 percent studying gastroenterology.
In picking a specialty, 69 percent of respondents based their choice around interest in the field, while 19 percent based it around the field's lifestyle and 7 percent based it around career opportunities.
The plurality of respondents (21 percent) expect to have over $300,000 in student loan debt after graduation.
Fifty-four percent of respondents believe that COVID-19 affected their medical license testing experiences.
Around 37 percent of medical students have reported feeling occasional burnout, while 33 percent reported frequent burnout.
About half of students (51 percent) have never considered leaving medical school, while the other 49 percent have considered leaving at some point.
Eighty-five percent of male students have never received an unwanted advance from faculty, patients or other students, while 62 percent of female students have never had an unwanted advance.