Table 2: Student responses to survey questions
Future plansLocation of medical school;
mean Likert scale score (SD)		p value
CaliforniaOntario
I plan to become involved in health care policy as a physician2.49 (0.93)2.52 (0.92)0.52
I plan to take leadership in health care policy as a physician2.88 (0.96)2.87 (0.92)0.80
I plan to support universal health care coverage as a physician2.33 (1.12)1.52 (0.63)< 0.001
I do not expect to have time to be politically active as a physician3.21 (1.02)3.27 (0.92)0.15
Health care provision and policy
Access to health care is a fundamental human right2.04 (1.20)1.35 (0.64)< 0.001
The government should guarantee health care access for all citizens2.22 (1.21)1.49 (0.70)< 0.001
The government should provide health care access for all citizens, even if higher taxation is needed to generate sufficient revenue2.47 (1.24)1.70 (0.76)< 0.001
The government should regulate the prices of health care services2.66 (1.19)1.97 (0.87)< 0.001
Health care services would improve if the government had no involvement in health care3.74 (1.09)4.19 (0.80)< 0.001
All citizens should have access to the same standard of medical care without regard to their financial means2.44 (1.23)1.71 (0.10)< 0.001
All children should have access to the same standard of medical care without regard to their parents’ financial means1.80 (0.97)1.36 (0.63)< 0.001
Control of medical costs: to constrain health care costs…
Physicians should accept a cut in pay3.56 (1.09)3.53 (1.03)0.75
Insurance companies should lower their profit margin1.81 (0.94)2.02 (0.89)< 0.001
Drug companies should lower their prices2.01 (0.99)2.01 (0.89)0.91
Hospitals should decrease their operating costs2.47 (0.96)2.78 (1.01)< 0.001
Hospitals should not be operated for profit2.74 (1.14)2.00 (0.98)< 0.001

Note: 1 = strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3 = neither agree or disagree, 4 = disagree, 5 = strongly disagree.