Introduction: The aim of this study is to explore career perceptions of male and female medical students.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews to 16 medical students (9males, 7 females) were undertaken.
Results: Qualitative data analysis showed that development of their career perceptions were affected by “gender view”, “interests in medicine” as well as their “perceptions of family”. Specifically, female students in the lower grades felt difficulty in making decisions on career choices due to the conflict between carrying out family responsibilities (e.g., housework and childcare) and interests in medicine. After clinical clerkships, their perceptions of a career were formed in one of two ways: giving priority to family responsibilities or interest in medicine. On the other hand, male students in lower and higher grades consistently gave priority to their interests in medicine for their career choices.
Conclusion: Differing career perceptions between male and female medical students emerged from this study, and supports the need for undergraduate education on gender-equality in society.

 The increase of female physicians and its undeveloped supporting system can be one of the causes of physicians' shortage. Although physicians' marriage/family perceptions and their influences on career choices have been extensively studied, those of medical students are not fully understood. An anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted involving male/female medical students in years 2 and 5 at Gifu University School of Medicine. The results showed that many male/female students hoped to get married, have children, and continue to work in the future, but different perceptions were demonstrated between the sexes with regards to the partners' occupation, working style, and influences of family/marriage perceptions on students' specialty choice. The results suggest the presence of sex-related differences in perceptions among medical students. The survey indicates the necessity of early undergraduate education for a better mutual understanding of gender issues.