Abstract: To explore the intention and influencing factors of the secondary disciplines by clinical medical students,especially to investigate the demand for guidance among medical students during the selection process,a cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted to collect relevant information from 650 medical students. The results show that 190 students have already chosen a secondary discipline in clinical medicine,with the most desired secondary disciplines being surgery and internal medicine. Interest is identified as the most important influencing factor. 90% of medical students were very confident in their choices,and 85.2% of them believed that corresponding guidance was necessary during the selection process. Female students,lower-grade students,and those who have not yet chosen a secondary discipline are the key groups. Among the medical students in need of guidance,70% choose clinicians as their mentors and believe that guidance provided before clinical rotations is more valuable to them. This indicates that medical students have high stability in their choice of secondary disciplines,and their choices are mainly based on personal interest. Medical students hope to receive professional guidance from clinicians during the selection process,which should be integrated throughout their entire undergraduate education.

Key words: medical students, secondary disciplines, influencing factors, occupational planning guidance, clinician