Saudi Viewers Watching Foreign Medical Dramas: A Uses and Gratification Approach

Abstract

Medical dramas have become a widely consumed media genre, providing audiences with health information and entertainment. Based on the uses and gratifications theory, this study analyzed the factors motivating Saudi medical students to watch foreign medical dramas and explored how these motivations were related to their engagement (selectivity, attentiveness, and involvement) and use of the health knowledge acquired. Data were collected from 2,004 Saudi undergraduate and graduate students (age: 19 to 26 years) enrolled in both pre-clinical and clinical stages of their medical education at several Saudi universities. Participants reported regular viewing of foreign medical dramas. The sample included students from diverse academic stages to ensure representation across both early and advanced levels of medical training. The findings indicated that students primarily watched medical dramas for entertainment and relaxation rather than for health-related insights. However, the desire for health-related knowledge was the only motivation directly linked to the use of information from these dramas. Entertainment motivations had an indirect positive impact on health information use through active engagement, while attentiveness to storylines negatively influenced information utilization.