Being a medical student in Turkey: The myths, challenges and reality

Medical education is a complex process for training physicians. Although being a medical student is highly prestigious and seems advantageous in many respects, the students have a variety of perceptions towards medical education and their future profession. This study explores medical students’ perceptions about being a student in the faculty of medicine in Turkey. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used. Semi-structured interview method was conducted with thirty medical students to collect data. The audio recordings were analyzed using the phenomenological coding technique in which transcriptions were taken into an open coding process. The students' perceptions revealed some commonalities about how they define themselves and their concerns about their future profession. Findings revealed that although they are mostly satisfied with the status of their future profession, they have several concerns and regrets. Students who aim to study at a medical school in the future need to be aware of the fact that medical education is not an easy training process as it requires developing certain professional competencies, values and attitudes, and the well-being of medical students should also be considered by the educators at medical schools.