The rate of depression appears to be in the lower range compared to rate reported from elsewhere. Some socio-cultural factors that may contribute to the present findings are discussed.

Objectives: The number of family physicians in Oman is far below that recommended by the World Health Organization. This study aimed to determine factors influencing junior doctors’ choice of a career in family medicine. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between March and June 2018 and targeted applicants to Oman Medical Specialty Board residency programmes during the 2018–2019 academic year. Applicants were grouped according to their choice of either family medicine (n = 64) or other specialities (n = 81). A self-administered questionnaire was utilised to compare the applicants’ sociodemographic characteristics, factors influencing their choice of career and their Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI) personality traits. Results: A total of 52 family medicine and 43 other residency applicants participated in the study (response rates: 81.3% and 53.1%, respectively). Most family medicine applicants were female (86.5%), married (65.4%) and resided in rural areas (73.1%); moreover, 19.2% were ≥30 years of age. Overall, emphasis on continuity of care, opportunity to deal with a variety of medical problems, the ability to use a wide range of skills and knowledge, early exposure to the discipline, opportunity to teach and perform research and the influence of family or friends were important factors in determining choice of a career in family medicine. Moreover, the MBTI analysis revealed that family medicine applicants were commonly extroverted-sensing-thinking-judging personality types. Conclusion: Knowledge of the factors influencing career choice among junior doctors may be useful in determining future admission policies in order to increase the number of family physicians in Oman.Keywords: Career Choice; Internship and Residency; Medical Specialty; Family Practice; Family Physicians; Myers-Briggs Type Indicator; Oman.

Background: Entry into postgraduate medical training programs should be based on valid selection measures predictive of training performance. A situational judgment test (SJT) is often used during the residency selection process to measure knowledge and behavioral attributes. Objectives: This study aimed to test the validity of the International Foundations of Medicine (IFOM) examination and an SJT for predicting performance during multiple mini-interviews (MMI) of the applicants for a family medicine residency program in Oman. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at Oman Medical Specialty Board (OMSB) during the application process for the academic year 2021. Data were collected from 80 applicants to the OMSB Family Medicine Residency Program. Before participating in the MMI panels, all applicants underwent pre-interview tests (comprising the IFOM examination and SJT). Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the predictors of the MMI score. Results: A total of 67 applicants completed the entire selection process cycle and were included in the study. The SJT score was a significant predictor of the MMI score (r = 0.367; P = 0.002), whereas the IFOM score was not a significant predictor (r = 0.105; P = 0.396). Conclusions: This study supports using SJT as an additional selection measure alongside the MMI panel for entry to OMSB residency training.