Career plans and debt levels of graduating U.S. medical students, 1981-1986.

Trends in students' responses to the annual graduation questionnaire of the Association of American Medical Colleges from 1981 to 1986 were examined. Since 1981 the percentage of students choosing primary care specialties dropped from 43.6 percent to 36.6 percent. The decline of interest in primary care specialties occurred mainly in general internal medicine. Changes in career activity since 1981 reflected increasing interest by the students in full-time academic appointments and decreasing interest in solo, private practices. Changes in the size of a city in which students planned to practice reflected an increasing interest in large cities or suburbs. The students' preferences for certain geographic regions of the country for practice locations changed very little. Finally, total postsecondary educational debt increased from an average of +19,697 in 1981 to an average of +33,499 in 1986. This difference represents a 70 percent increase as measured by 1987 dollars and a 37 percent increase in constant dollars.