specialty preferences and determinants among medical undergraduate in university of hail, saudi arabia: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: The preferences of medical specialty among medical students can affects the public health by affecting healthcare system and community wellbeing. It is important to recognize the factors that determine the medical career choices among medical students. Therefore, we conducted this study to investigate the factors that influence the career decision among medical students at University of Hail.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey that was carried out among final year medical undergraduates in University of Hail, Saudi Arabia. A questionnaire was designed using google forms platform. The data was collected between January 2023 – February 2023 in university of Hail.
Results: Surgical specialties 30 (39.47%) were the most preferred specialty of the first choice followed by family medicine 14(18.42%). There were no significant gender preferences observed in first choice specialties. Personal interest was the most common and significant factor responsible for the choice of specialty in 90.78% of students (p= 0.001). The factors that had the most influence on male students were personal interest (4.52 ± 1.13), good clerkship experience (4.07± 1.17), and personal abilities/competence (4.0 ± 1.9), job opportunities (3.8 ± 1.2), and the focus on doctor-patient relationship (3.6 ± 1.4). For the female students, personal interest (4.5 ± 0.8), personal abilities/competence (3.9 ± 1.2), good clerkship experience (3.8 ± 1.1) and expected financial outcome (3.7 ± 1.1) were the most influential factors for specialty preference.
Conclusion: Surgical specialties were the most preferred specialty of the first choice followed by family medicine of the surgical specialties, general surgery was the most preferred. A personal interest was the most common reason for choosing a specialty in the University of Ha'il.