Global Health Career Interest among Medical and Nursing Students: Survey and Analysis

Background: Global health experiences undertaken in international settings (GHEs) are becoming an increasingly prevalent aspect of health professions education and, as such, merit comprehensive analysis of the impact they have on students and host communities.

Objective: To assess the associations between demographic/experiential factors and the interest of health professions students in careers involving global health.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered online to a convenience sample of medical and nursing students at Johns Hopkins University. Questions addressed level of interest in a global health career, prior GHEs, and demographic information. Items were either Likert scale or multiple choice. Various regression analyses were performed.

Findings: Of 510 respondents, 312 (61.2%) expressed interest in a global health career and 285 (55.9%) had prior GHEs. Multivariate logistic regression found female sex, age ≥27 years, household income <$100,000/y, and a prior research-related GHE independently associated with higher interest in global health careers. On subset analysis of participants with one or more prior GHEs: age ≥27 years, household income <$100,000/y, a prior research-related GHE, and having multiple GHEs were each independently associated with increased interest in a global health career.

Conclusions: Simply participating in a global health experience abroad is not significantly associated with interest in a global health career. However, sex, age, household income, and research-related GHEs are significantly associated with global health career interest. These findings may inform the development of global health programs at medical and nursing schools and can guide efforts to increase the number of health care professionals entering global health careers.