Abstract

In this study, it is aimed to determine the relative weights (importance) of the chosen properties of the medical schools according to preferences and demands of the prospective students. The data was collected from the students who attend already a health vocational high school and examined using conjoint analysis approach, a widely accepted method for evaluating multiattribute alternatives in marketing. There are 6 attributes presented to students for taking their view. These school attributes are type (state or private), history (old or new), location (downtown or uptown), hospital ownership (yes or no), duration of education (short or long) and campus life (yes or no). Conjoint analysis was used as the research tool to identify the relative importance of the attributes. The most important factors were found as Campus Life (24.24%), School Type (24.17%) and Duration of Education (23.47%). These factors are followed by the moderate important two factors History (16.11%) and Location (11.70%) where the latter one has slightly lower weight. On the other hand, importance score for factor Hospital Ownership was estimated as 0.31% and surprisingly has no effect on preferring a medical higher school. Results of this research can be took into account by the decision makers and managers of both available and planned to be established medical schools to increase popularity of these institutes.