A study on the status and correlation of professional commitment and career maturity of medical English major students

Objective To detect the differences of professional commitment and career maturity of medical English majors from different sources, and analyze the correlation between them. Methods In November 2018, 206 four-year students from freshmen to senior of medical English majors in Xinxiang Medical University were selected as the subjects of this study. Questionnaires of College Students' Professional Commitment Scale and College Students' Career Maturity Scale were conducted to observe the potential difference of professional commitment and career maturity in gender, grade, one child family or not, urban or rural areas, whether adjusting majors and changing majors or not, and to analyze the correlation between them. Results The scores of professional commitment from freshmen to senior were (3.33±0.44), (3.23±0.27), (3.14±0.47), (3.30±0.43), respectively. There was no significant difference in professional commitment and career maturity among Medical English majors students in terms of gender, one child family or not, urban or rural areas, whether changing majors or not (all P>0.05), however, there was significant difference in adjusting majors or not [(3.26±0.48)vs (3.45±0.46), P<0.01]. There was no significant difference in professional commitment among different grades (F=0.403, P=0.751), but there was significant difference in career maturity (F=2.679, P=0.048). Apart from the negative correlation (r=-0.093, P=0.184)between continuing commitment and career maturity, emotional commitment, ideal commitment and normative commitment of professional commitment were positively correlated with career maturity (respectively: r=0.271, P<0.01; r=0.368, P<0.01; r=0.167, P=0.017). Conclusions Medical English undergraduates' professional commitment and career maturity show their own characteristics in different people. Colleges and universities should give targeted education and guidance, in order to train professionals better. Key words: Medical English; Professional commitment; Career maturity; Correlation analysis