Table 2 Examples of residents' responses concerning "statements for" and "statements against" a career in medicine (see also Additional file 1)

Personal experiences in day-to-day working life

"Professional, psychological and social challenge."

"The combination of intellectual and manual work in surgery."

"Working independently and with a high level of responsibility."

"Variety in day-to-day work."

"Medical issues offer a variety of solutions."

"High patient responsibility despite low clinical experience."

"High workload under time pressure."

"Emotional handling of difficult situations."

"Health impairment caused by stress at work; afraid of experiencing burn-out."

"A lot of routine, no space for acting autonomously."

Interpersonal experiences in professional relationships

"Working together with different teams and professionals."

"Ability to help sick and suffering people."

"Acknowledgement and gratefulness of patients."

"The doctor-patient relationship is an interpersonal challenge."

"The patient is the king in hospital, hospitals are seen as 'shopping centres'."

"Patients' overreaching expectations towards medicine and the medical professionals."

"Little motivation and acknowledgement in the workplace."

"Senior physicians' lack of communicative competence."

General work-related structural conditions

"The medical profession can be practiced all over the world, in different cultures, and under various social conditions."

"There are still plenty of job opportunities, in hospital, private practice, management, and health policy."

"Old-fashioned hierarchical structures."

"Heavy workload."

"Shift from work with the patient to a lot of administrative work at the PC."

"Difficult structural conditions for women who want to pursue a prestigious career."

Further training and speciality qualification conditions

"The medical profession gives one the opportunity of working in a broad field."

"Interesting combination of basic sciences and interpersonal concerns."

"The speciality-qualification training is not at all well organized and structured."

"Becoming a speciality trainee is often a matter of nepotism."

"The fragmentation of the medical profession into many highly specialized disciplines makes doctors into narrow-minded nerds."

Enjoyment/Meaning

"Having the feeling that one is doing something 'good"'.

"It's like a passion – one's career as a passion."

"You sacrifice yourself to the profession."

"Modern medicine no longer sees human beings as whole people, but regards them as no more than disturbed functions or sick organs."

Social prestige and health-policy aspects

"Job security."

"The medical profession still enjoys high social prestige."

"The medical profession is increasingly criticized by society."

"Doctors are the scapegoats for rising costs in the health care system."

"The health policy of the past few years has made the medical profession unattractive (Tarmed)."

"Doctors constantly have to justify the treatment they administer to their patients to the health insurance companies."

"The doctor-patient relationship has assumed an increasingly legal footing."

Income

"Secure income."

"Low income compared to other academics."

"Considering the high workload, responsibility, and investment in education and training, the doctors' income is inadequately low."

Leisure/Private life

"Combination of work and family life with compromises in both areas."

"Tremendous cutback in social life."

"Limited quality of life."

"Difficulties for a woman in balancing job- and childcare-responsibilities"