This study identifies factors which influenced a career choice of family practice by students from the class of 1990 in the public medical schools that have graduated the most family physicians in the last decade. One hundred and thirty-nine new graduates who entered family practice residencies in 1990 responded to a questionnaire that determined the importance of curricula, teachers, departmental support, practice characteristics, and personal issues in decision making. Practice characteristics of family practice and the clinical curriculum were found to be the most important influences. Differences among subjects on the basis of their levels of interest in family practice prior to medical school were examined. Educational considerations, related to curricula and teachers, were more important to those students with little or no prior interest, whereas practice characteristics and personal issues were more important to students with high levels of prior interest. Implications for educational planning are discussed.