The motivation to pursue a medical career has often been associated with the desire to help others. However, as revealed by the qualitative study conducted by De Jong et al. (2025), this premise, although widely accepted, presents important nuances when analyzed from a phenomenological and cross-cultural perspective. The work provides an in-depth and empirically grounded insight into the different motivational vectors of psychiatry students and residents in Lithuania, Indonesia, and the Netherlands.
The survey identified nine main categories of motivation for choosing medicine as a profession: helping people, interest in the human body, financial and job security, work context, family influence, challenging/interesting/practical profession, prestige, long-standing dream, and problem-solving. Among these, altruism – expressed as “helping people” – was the most cited reason, especially among women, older individuals, and participants from Lithuania and Indonesia. In the Netherlands, interest in the human body prevailed, indicating cultural and generational variations in the configuration of motivations (De Jong et al., 2025).
The methodology used, centered on a card-sorting task in groups with different medical backgrounds, allowed the identification of categories with a high degree of consensus (meta-consensus categories). This rigorous methodological approach strengthens the internal validity of the findings and highlights the complexity of medical motivation as a multifactorial phenomenon, in which altruism coexists with personal, family and contextual interests.
A critical point raised by the authors is the mismatch between initial motivations and the realities of medical practice, often characterized by high levels of stress, intense workloads, and continuous exposure to human suffering. This misalignment has been linked to an increased risk of burnout, professional dropout, and decreased professional vitality. The literature supported by the article suggests that a deep understanding of individual motivation can serve as a predictor of professional success and well-being, in addition to supporting more effective educational interventions (De Jong et al., 2025).
The data also reveal that, with increasing age, the predominance of altruism as the main motivator increases, while fascination with the human body tends to decrease. This observation suggests that medical motivation can change throughout training and professional experience, which reinforces the importance of incorporating moments of structured self-reflection into medical training. Such moments could be facilitated, for example, by models inspired by approaches such as Simon Sinek’s “Golden Circle”, which prioritizes the “why” as the driving force behind professional action.
Although the study has limitations in terms of sampling and scope (focusing on psychiatry residents and with a predominance of one country in the group of interns), it provides a robust basis for future, broader quantitative investigations. Furthermore, it raises valuable practical implications for the selection and training of medical students, proposing that distinct motivational profiles may be more compatible with certain specialties or clinical environments.
In short, the study by De Jong et al. underscores that understanding the motivations of future physicians is not just a matter of academic curiosity, but a necessary strategy to mitigate professional burnout and promote a more humane and sustainable medicine. As I have observed in my recent reading on physician burnout, reflecting on the “why” of a professional choice may be as fundamental as mastering clinical skills.
Reference:
DE JONG, CAJ et al. Is the desire to help people the main motivation for entering a medical profession? A cross-cultural, phenomenological study. Academia Mental Health and Well-Being, v. 2, 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20935/MHealthWellB7531.
