(How) does majoring in the social sciences and humanities relate to specialty choice?: a cross-sectional study
Laura E. Hirshfield, Tirza Ochrach-Konradi, Alan Schwartz · 2026
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Description
Laura E. Hirshfield and colleagues asked in 2026 whether medical students who majored in social sciences or humanities choose different specialties than science majors. Past work tied such backgrounds to humanistic qualities, yet evidence on specialty choice was mixed and rarely national. The team analysed 49,214 United States graduates from 2018 to 2020, about 82% of allopathic graduates in those years.
Humanities and social science majors chose primary care and non-procedural specialties more often than STEM peers, even after accounting for identity and performance factors. Students who took patient-focused electives showed the same lean. Recruiting more humanities majors may thus help fill primary care gaps, though the study cannot prove major choice causes the preference.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Laura E. Hirshfield, Tirza Ochrach-Konradi, Alan Schwartz |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 35 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |