Specialty Preferences of Medical Students

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to find out the specialty preference among students of Azra Naheed Medical College Lahore.

Methodology: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted during the month of May & June 2015. A structured, pretested question[1]naire was used to collect data. The collected data was organized, entered in SPSS version 20, and analyzed by the use of statistical tools.

Results: Out of the 73 participants, 31 (42.5 %) were male and 42 (57.5 %) were female students. The age ranged between 20 to 28 years with a mean of 22.26 ± 1.19. Fifty six (56) students (76.7 %) have started medical profession with their choice but 17 (23.3 %) have not  started with their choice. Sixty six (66) students (90.4 %) were satisfied with the medical profession, while 7 (9.6 %) were not satisfied. Sixty  eight (68) students (93.2 %) were interested in specialization whereas only 5 (6.8 %) were not interested. The preference of specialty was  found as 23 (31.5 %) for Surgery, 22 (30.1 %) for Gynecology, 19 (26 %) for medicine, 8 (11 %) for Pediatrics and Ophthalmology 1 (1.4 %).

Conclusion: The results are consistent with the other relevant studies. However the interest in specialization by a vast ma[1]jority is a healthy trend but the absolute absence of basic medical science should be considered as a serious concern.