Aim.

To identify the reasons why students access the Degree in Medicine.

Subjects and methods.

First-year medical students in 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2017-18 provided an open description of their reasons for access to the degree. These were identified and classified for analysis, the number of reasons given by the whole and in each academic year, as well as their distribution according to gender was calculated. They were classified into categories for comparison with other studies.

Results.

A total of 367 students (252 women and 115 men) participated. The distribution of women (83.71 ± 4.8%) and men (82.4 ± 5.1%) was not statistically significant. The students justified their access for an average of 2.5 ± 0.06 reasons, with no gender differences or between the three academic years. Twenty-three different reasons for accessing the degree were identified and grouped into categories, the main ones being altruism, scientific knowledge, instrumental motives and personal reasons. There was a significant increase in access through knowledge acquisition between the 2014-15 and 2017-18 academic years, and a reduction in access by vocation. The social consideration of medicine or the social image of the doctor is rarely invoked by students as a reason for accessing the degree. Women refer altruistic and knowledge-related motives for access more frequently than men, but without significant differences.

Conclusion.

Altruistic values continue to be the most frequent reasons for accessing to the Degree in Medicine. The vocation is reduced and the acquisition of scientific knowledge increases as reasons for access.

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