Volume 27, Issue 132, February 2023

Factors related to choosing family medicine as future career among senior medical students. An experience of different universities in Saudi Arabia

Sulten Alzahrani¹, Salah Bakry¹, Mohammed Althubaiti¹, Shumukh Alsharif², Abdulaziz H Almogbel^1♦, Azzam Hanif¹, Turki Alessa¹, Reem Alharthi³, Aous Alattas¹, Saad Albagami¹, Waleed Alnemari¹, Muhammad Irfanullah Siddiqui⁴

¹Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah City, Saudi Arabia
²Faculty of Medicine, Taif University, Taif City, Saudi Arabia
³Faculty of Medicine, Albaha University, Albaha City, Saudi Arabia
⁴Department of Community Medicine and Pilgrims, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah City, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah City, Saudi Arabia
ORCID: 0000-0003-2269-0973

ABSTRACT

Background: Family medicine has various difficulties; most doctors who practice in other specialities presumably have no need for family medicine and find it irrelevant. This study aimed to explore the students’ related factors in choosing family medicine as a future career. Methodology: During March to June 2022, an online-based survey was distributed to students among varieties of universities in Saudi Arabia. Results: Overall, 319 students were included in this survey. Most of them are from UQU, followed by TU and BU. Most students show interest in choosing family medicine. Simultaneously, students from UQU significantly showed no interest in choosing family medicine (Pvalue, <0.001). In contrast, students from TU and BU showed a significant association in interest in choosing family medicine (P-value, <0.001). Conclusion: The family medicine speciality provides medical practitioners with particular experience and these specialists have a significantly more significant opportunity to serve diverse populations. Family practitioners must be present in the healthcare system to provide comprehensive care services.

Keywords: Family Medicine, Future Career, Medical Students, Saudi Arabia

Medical Science, 2023, 27, e91ms2881

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v27i132/e91ms2881

Published: 14 February 2023