Future specialization interests among medical students in southern India.
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Date
2012-07
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Abstract
Background. A consideration of the future specialization
interests of undergraduate medical students might help to
understand the needs of higher medical education and future
manpower availability for healthcare.
Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted among
373 undergraduate students of a medical college in southern
India using a self-administered questionnaire.
Results. Of the 373 students, 188 (50.4%) were men.
Almost all of them (370 [99.2%]) wanted to pursue
postgraduation. Of these, 267 (72.4%) wanted to pursue
postgraduation in India. Overall, the first choice subject was
surgery (120 [32.2%]) followed by internal medicine (85
[22.8%]) and paediatrics (43 [11.5%]). The third preference
for men and women differed, with men choosing orthopaedics
and women choosing obstetrics and gynaecology. The factors
that influenced the choice of specialization were interest in
the speciality (Likert scale score 4.7), job satisfaction (4.6),
employment opportunities (4.0), job security (4) and high
income potential (3.9).
Conclusion. It was evident from the proportion of
students desiring to do postgraduation and their choice of
specialties that most of them will end up working at hospitals
instead of at primary healthcare centres. The deficiencies of
certain specialists such as ophthalmologists are likely to
persist. This is a cause for concern as the majority of our
population lives in rural areas and there is already a
maldistribution of doctors.
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SUBBA S H, BINU V S, KOTIAN M S, JOESPH N, MAHAMOOD A B, DIXIT N, GEORGE A, KUMAR P, ACHARYA S, REDDY P. Future specialization interests among medical students in southern India. National Medical Journal of India. 2012 Jul-Aug ; 25(4): 226-229.