Factors influencing the choice of ophthalmology as a career among medical students of king saud bin abdulaziz university Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Context: Choosing a future speciality for medical students can be frightening as well as confusing. Identifying factors that influence medical students' future career choice is critical and can play an important role in shaping the future workforce. Aims: The study aims to determine factors associated with medical students' preference of Ophthalmology as a future career choice at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS). Settings and Design: A cross-sectional study was carried out among Saudi students of both genders who were enrolled in KSAU-HS (clinical phase) during the study. Subjects and Methods: A validated questionnaire was sent through E-mail to 302 eligible students, of which 275 participated, with a response rate of (91%). Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive analysis was carried out for all categorical variables. In addition, data were compared using Chi-square test; all tests were two-sided and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 28 students (10.2%) considered Ophthalmology as their first choice, while it was the second choice for four students (1.5%). Among all the participants, factors that attracted medical students to consider Ophthalmology as a career choice included the high income (54%), private sector opportunities (40%), part-time opportunities (40%) and leisure (34%). Whereas, the difficulty of getting into the Ophthalmology Residency Programme (53%) was the most important factor that pushed students away from choosing Ophthalmology. Conclusions: Multiple factors influenced the KSAU-HS medical students' choice of when choosing a future speciality. Knowing these factors can help in directing work-force to choose specialities that are currently limited in Saudi Arabia.