Closing your eyes or facing the future: Medical students' career decision-making stress

Students have to make important decisions about their career at the end of their studies. Medical students find the choice for a career direction after graduation so difficult that many experience career decision-making stress. This thesis furthers our understanding of career decision-making stress among (medical) students. How do students respond to decisional stress? Do they withdraw and “close their eyes” or do they actively engage in the choice process and “face the future”? Coaching is investigated as an intervention to support medical students’ career choice process.
Findings show that career (decision-making) stress has negative effects on students' career development. Rather than actively engaging in the career choice process (like exploring career options), students experiencing career (decision-making) stress tend to withdraw from the process (e.g., they postpone career activities). This response hinders progress in career decision-making and results in increased decisional stress.
This dissertation identified several antecedents of career decision-making stress. Those students with a clearer image of their ideal future working life and higher confidence in their ability to complete career tasks experience less decisional stress, while those feeling time pressure, higher study load, and more competition experience more decisional stress.
Individual coaching proved effective in reducing decisional stress by increasing students' confidence in completing career-related tasks.
It is concluded that medical schools should aim to reduce career decision-making stress through curriculum development, career development programs, and supportive social environments. Since some career stress is inevitable, schools can offer individual support, such as professional coaching, for students in need.