Specific Features of Motivation for Interest in Professional Activity among Future Physicians

Abstract

This article examines the structure and specific features of motivation for interest in professional activity among future physicians and its relationship with empathic abilities and anxiety. The sample comprised 422 third- and sixth-year students of Tashkent State Medical University and Bukhara Medical University. K. Zamfir’s Motivation for Professional Activity technique as modified by A.A. Rean, V.V. Boyko’s empathic abilities technique, the Spielberger–Khanin State-Trait Anxiety scale and an author-designed questionnaire were used; the data were processed with the Mann–Whitney U, Wilcoxon, χ² tests and rank correlation. Sixth-year students showed significantly higher intrinsic and external negative motivation than third-year students, whereas external positive motivation did not differ. Intrinsic motivation correlated positively with the emotional, identification and penetration channels of empathy and negatively with state and trait anxiety, while external negative motivation showed the opposite pattern, revealing an “anxiety – external negative motivation” chain. A corrective-developmental training programme for third-year students significantly increased intrinsic motivation and reduced external negative motivation. The findings can be used in psychological support services and in the design of medical curricula.