Title: Choosing medical specialty: How Arab interns think?
Authors: Maha Sulaiman Younis, Ryadh Abdul Razzaq Al-Azzawi, Dina Hamdan
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v4i11.04
Abstract
Background: Selecting medical specialty can be challenging for the freshly graduated doctors. This versatile decision is influenced by variant personal and vocational factors. No such studies have been undertaken in Arab medical communities. This paper aims to explore and compare career preferences and motivations of two groups of medical interns in Iraq and Jordan
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2012-2013on group of medical interns working at Medical City University Hospital and The Jordanian University Hospital-Amman. Data were analyzed through a descriptive tabulation. The forms of 127 respondents who decided their career choice were analyzed to explore the factors influencing their choices and the effect of gender.
Results: Male and female interns in Iraq and Jordan favored the major medical and surgical specialties. Males and females in both countries were motivated by intellectual contents, clinical interaction and academic, technical facilities more than financial profit and to lesser workload.
Conclusion: The study finding may be a reflection of shared cultural background and personal characteristics of both groups; the findings may also be useful to the health authorities in planning future expansions in certain fields.
Keywords: medical specialty, Arab interns.
References
1. Harris MG, Gavel PH, Young JR. Factors influencing the choice of specialty of Australian medical graduates. Med J Aust 2005;183(6):295 PubMed -300.
2. General Medical Council. Survey of UK graduate doctors, 2006. www.gmc-uk.org/doctors/documents/uk_grad_survey_report_10_feb_06.pdf
3. Fukuda Y, Harada T. Gender differences in specialty preference and mismatch with real needs in Japanese medical students. BMC Med Educ 2010,10:15.
4. Diderichsen S, Johansson EE, Verdonk P, Lago-Janssen T, Hamberg K. Few gender differences in specialty preferences and motivational factors: a cross-sectional Swedish study on last year medical students. BMC Med Educ. 2013 Mar 8;13:39. doi: 10.1186/1472-6920-13-39.
5. Maseghe Mwachaka P, Thuo Mbugua E. Specialty preferences among medical students in a Kenyan university. Pan Afr Med J. 2010, 8;5:18 PubMed .
6. Mehmood SI, Kumar A, Al-Binali A, Borleffs JC. Specialty Preferences: trends and perceptions among Saudi undergraduate medical students. Med Teach. 2012;34 Suppl 1: S51-60. doi: 10.3109/0142159X.2012.656753.
7. Al-Fouzan R, Al-Ajlan S, Marwan Y, and Al-Saleh, M. Factors affecting future specialty choice among medical students in Kuwait. Med. Educ Online 2012, 17, 19587- PubMed http//dx.doi.org/10.3402/meo.v17i0.19587.
8. Khader Y, Al-Zoubi D, Amarin Z, Alkafagei A, Khasawneh M, Burgan S, et al. Factors affecting medical students in formulating their specialty preferences in Jordan. BMC Med Educ 2008;8: 32.
9. Health Systems Profile: Iraq. Cairo, Egypt, WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, Division of Health Systems and Services Development, Health Policy and Planning Unit, 2005 Dec 15;8:43. doi: 10.1186/1744-8603-8-43.
10. Amin NM,Khoshnaw MQ. Medical education and training in Iraq. The lancet.Vol,362, October18,2003.www.the lancet.com.
11. The Iraqi Council for Medical Specializations. The Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education . Personal communication ,January 2013.Baghdad.
12. Specialty Choice Inventory –Sci59online;http;//sci.openac.uk.
13. Lambert TW, Goldacre MJ, Turner G. Career choices of United Kingdom medical graduates of 2002: Questionnaire survey. Med Educ 2006 40(6):514 PubMed –521.
14. Lambert TW, Goldacre MJ, Parkhouse J. Doctors who qualified in the UK between 1974 and 1993: age, gender, nationality, marital status and family formation. Med Educ 1998; 32:533-7 PubMed .
15. Al-Ansari S , Khafagy MA. Factors affecting the choice of health specialty by medical graduates. J Family Community Med,2006;13(3):119-23.
16. Heikkila T,Hyppo la H, Kumpusalo E, Halila H, Vanska J, Kujala S, et al. Choosing a medical specialty study of Finnish doctors graduating in 1977_2006. Med Teach 2011; 33: e440_5.
17. Buddeberg-Fischer B ,Klaghofer R, Abel T, Buddeberg C. Swiss residents' specialty choices – impact of gender, personality traits, career motivation and life goals. BMC Health Services Research 2006, 6:137.
18. Zarkovic A, Child S, Naden G. Career choices of New Zealand junior doctors. N Z Med J, 2006, Vol 119 No 1229;1-8.
19. Schwartz RW, Jarecky RK, Strodel WE, Haley JV, Young B, GriffenWO. Controllable life style : a new factor in career choice by medical students. Acad Med1989;606-9.
20. Al-Faris E, Kalantan K, al-Rowais N, al-Mahdi Balla al-Nour M, al-Umran K, Kabraah MT, Badwi I, Jarallah JS. Career choices among Saudi medical students. Acad Med. 1997 Jan;72(1):65-7.
21. Ahmed SM, Majumdar AA, Karim R, Rahman S, Rahman N. Career choices among medical students in Bangladesh. J advances in Medical Education and Practice 2011, Vol, 2: 51-8.
22. Bittaye M, Odukogbe AT, Nyan O, et al. Medical students' choices of specialty in the Gambia; the need for career counseling. BMC Medical Education 2012, 12:72.
23. Dorsy ER, Jarjoura D, Rutecki GW. The influence of controllable lifestyle and sex on the specialty choices of graduating US medical students 1996-2003. Acad Med 2005;80:791-6 PubMed .