The Future Career Choices of Pre-Registered House Officers and House Surgeons: a Multicenter Study

Abstract

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to determine the future preferences of house officers when choosing a medical speciality. METHODOLOGY The cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June 2023 at three teaching hospitals in Abbottabad. 250 participants were selected as the study sample. The data was collected from house officers on a predesigned, self-structured written questionnaire. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 21. RESULTSOf 250 individuals, 224 met inclusive criteria; 65% (146) were male and 35% (78) were female. The mean age was 25 years ±1.01. The first preference of the house officer was medicine (44% (100), the second was surgery (31.5%) (70), and the third was obstetrics and gynaecology. Among medicine specialities, only 0.9% (02) opt endocrinology and gastroenterology, while among surgical specialities, 0.4% (01) opt urology and 0.9% (02) opt neurosurgery. 150 individuals (70%) planned residency in the future, among whom 47% (106) set a caveat for residency abroad. The most favourite place abroad was the UK, with 42% (45/106). 180 house officers (80%) are satisfied with their academic abilities. CONCLUSION The study revealed that house officers have no awareness of new specialities and are least interested in specialities like endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurosurgery, and urology. In contrast, no influence was noted toward specialities like haematology, public health and community medicine. Most students are satisfied with their medical education but plan to do their residency abroad.