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Specialty preference and intentions to study abroad of Syrian medical students during the crisis.

ABSTRACT: Little research addresses how medical students develop their choice of specialty training in crisis and resource-poor settings. The newly graduated medical students determine the future of the healthcare system. This study aims to elucidate the factors influencing Syrian medical students' specialty selection and students' intentions to study abroad.A cross-sectional study carried out at the universities of Damascus, Al-Kalamoon and the Syrian Private University in Syria using self-administered questionnaire to investigate medical students' specialty preferences and plans for career future. The questionnaire included questions about students' demographic and educational characteristics, intention to train abroad, the chosen country for training.Randomly selected 450 students completed the questionnaire. The two most common specialties selected were general surgery (27.6%) and internal medicine (23.5%). The most influencing factors on their decision were 'flexibility of specialty' (74.8%) and 'Better work opportunities after specializing' (69.1%). Most participants stated that they are interested in specializing abroad outside Syria (78.7%). The two most common countries of choice were Germany (35.5%) and the United States of America (24.6%). Acquiring a visa to the foreign country was the most common obstacle of specializing abroad (n?=?186, 53.6%). Male gender, having a previous clinical training abroad, and having friends or relatives living abroad were significant factors in predicting students' interest in specializing abroad.Internal medicine and surgery are the most reported specialties of choice in this study and most of the participants reported intentions to study abroad. Their specialty preferences are influenced by both familiar epidemiological and war-driven factors. These data can be useful to design further cohort study to understand the war-related affecting factors on students' plans for their career in the effort of improving the balance of healthcare system in Syria.

SUBMITTER: Sawaf B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5857144 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Specialty preference and intentions to study abroad of Syrian medical students during the crisis.

Sawaf Bisher B Abbas Fatima F Idris Amr A Al Saadi Tareq T Ibrahim Nazir N

BMC medical education 20180316 1

<h4>Background</h4>Little research addresses how medical students develop their choice of specialty training in crisis and resource-poor settings. The newly graduated medical students determine the future of the healthcare system. This study aims to elucidate the factors influencing Syrian medical students' specialty selection and students' intentions to study abroad.<h4>Methods</h4>A cross-sectional study carried out at the universities of Damascus, Al-Kalamoon and the Syrian Private University ...[more]

PMID: 29548290

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Project description:BackgroundThe shortage of doctors and maldistribution among specialties are of great concern in the Japanese health care system. This study investigated specialty preference in medical students of one university, and examined gender differences and compared their preference with real needs.MethodsWe conducted a self-administered questionnaire including specialty preference in all students of one medical university. Preference was assessed by the five-level probability of their future choice: 1 = very low, 2 = low, 3 = moderate, 4 = high, and 5 = very high. The proportion of 4 or 5 was calculated as the preference rate. The real needs (magnitude of doctor shortage) in the prefecture were drawn from two different surveys. The relationship between the sex-specific preference rate by specialty and real needs was assessed by Spearman's correlation coefficient.ResultsInternal medicine showed the highest preference rate, followed by general surgery, pediatrics, and emergency medicine. There was no significant correlation between the preference rates of men and women (r = 0.27, p = 0.34). The preference rates for general surgery, orthopedics, neurosurgery, and emergency medicine were significantly higher in men than in women, while those of obstetrics & gynecology, pediatrics, and dermatology were significantly higher in women. The magnitude of doctor shortage by specialty from two surveys were significantly correlated with the total preference rate and men's preference rate (r = 0.54 to 0.74), but not with women's preference rate (r = 0.06 and 0.32).ConclusionsThis study elucidated not only gender differences in specialty preference but also the relationship to real needs. Critical gender differences and mismatch with real needs were found in women. In addition to traditional gender roles and insufficient support for women's participation in Japan, gender differences and mismatch influence the current and future maldistribution of specialties. Systematic changes in the working environment in medical society are required to solve these problems.

Dataset Information

Specialty preference and intentions to study abroad of Syrian medical students during the crisis.

Publications

Specialty preference and intentions to study abroad of Syrian medical students during the crisis.

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