Medical students choose their future careers based on many factors, of which many have been proposed. There are no clear reasons why medical students choose one specialty over others. This literature review serves as a starting point for a proposed study on Singaporean medical students' attitudes towards FM as a career choice. The search covered period from 1993 - 2012 using Medline database and the keywords: medical students, career choice, Family Medicine or general practitioner/general practice. Twenty articles (out of 274) met the review criteria. Three themes emerged - career choice specific to FM and in general and on attitudes towards FM. Positive factors included: female gender, older age, perceived lifestyle, rural background, a patient/societal orientation and experience with role-models. Negative factors included: research interest, nature of work, low income/prestige and debt repayment. Proportion of students interested in FM as a career was below 30% in most studies. The review showed that factors affecting career choices are complex. Difference in healthcare systems were also important factors. It is uncertain if studies conducted in different countries are reproducible. This review identified possible factors affecting medical students' interest in a FM career and their attitudes towards FM as a profession.