Future specialty and practice intentions among saudi medical students
E A Ai-Faris1, K Kalantan, M B Al-Nour
1Department of Family and Community Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Journal of Family & Community Medicine
|September 26, 2012
Summary
Most graduating medical students in Saudi Arabia preferred clinical specialties over primary care. A significant number were undecided, highlighting a need for strategies to encourage general practice.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Healthcare Workforce Planning
- Saudi Arabia Healthcare
Background:
- Understanding medical students' career intentions is crucial for future healthcare workforce planning.
- Saudi Arabia faces a shortage of trained Family Physicians.
Purpose of the Study:
- Identify specialty intentions among Saudi medical students.
- Determine reasons for specialty choices.
- Ascertain preferred practice locations for postgraduate training and practice.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study utilizing self-administered questionnaires.
- Survey conducted at the end of the 1994 academic year.
- Involved 253 graduating medical students from four Saudi medical colleges.
Main Results:
- Internal Medicine (17%), Surgery (16%), Paediatrics (14%), and Obstetrics (11%) were the most chosen specialties.
- 27% of students were undecided about their career path.
- Primary health care was selected by only 1.6% of students; men favored Surgery, women favored Obstetrics and Ophthalmology.
Conclusions:
- The study highlights a low interest in primary health care among graduating medical students.
- Preferred postgraduate training locations included Saudi Arabia (56%) and Canada (40%).
- Urgent strategies are needed to address the deficit in Saudi Family Physicians.
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