General surgery career path and factors in medical students and interns in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Even though selecting a surgical career to follow after graduation is a difficult and complex procedure, many other elements may influence a student's choice. The purpose of this study is to identify the variables influencing medical students' and interns' decisions to pursue a surgical profession. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was conducted by distributing questionnaires online to sixthyear medical students and interns. Survey items obtained data on demographics, surgical interests, and factors affecting a surgical career. Results: A total of 685 participants responded, 76.1% were sixth-year medical students, and 23.9% were medical interns. Most participants (70.5%) were interested in pursuing surgery as a future career. Factors influencing students' decisions, such as lifestyle, career opportunities, future employment, work hours, stressful job, financial rewards, lifestyle during training, intellectual challenge, and hands-on work skills, were the highest- scored factors, respectively. On the other hand, the least scored factors were Saudi surgical programs being better than overseas ones, advice from family and friends, and surgery being "female-unfriendly," respectively. Conclusion: As most respondents showed interest in pursuing a career in surgery, many factors have played a significant role in their decision. These findings represent an opportunity that needs to be addressed to increase the number of applicants to surgical residency programs.