Factors Influencing the Choice of Plastic Surgery as a Specialty in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Graduates of medical school must choose a specific specialty as a life-long practice from a large pool of medical specialties. This decision stands out as one of the most memorable and critical in their lifetimes. To reach such a decision with satisfaction, medical school graduates consider a variety of factors. This is the first study to explore the influential factors on pursuing plastic surgery as a career in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, unicentral study based on an electronic questionnaire that has been constructed with an assistance of field experts to ensure a sufficient coverage of the influential factors. Only those with an established interest in plastic surgery were included. Institutional review board approval was obtained for this study. Results: Of the 695 questionnaires fully completed by third-year medical students up to intern doctors, only 32 (4.6%) expressed an interest in the pursuit of plastic surgery as a future career, with a female predominance of 62.5% (N = 20). The factors that influenced their decision of specialty choice were the geographic advantage (81.3%), predominance of nonurgent cases (71.9%), the reward associated with immediate outcome (71.9%), and prior significant events (71.9%). Conclusions: Certain factors, as explored by this study, strongly influence the choice of plastic surgery as a future specialty, among Saudi medical graduates. Cultivating more knowledge about plastic surgery as a specialty may help consider scientific research as an impactful factor in the future for further development in the field.

What factors during elective rotations influence undergraduates to pursue plastic surgery as a career?

“…Greene and May [5] highlighted that in medical schools with plastic surgery training programs and those providing exposure to this field, a higher rate of graduates applied for the plastic surgery residency, which, however, did not coincide with the results in the article by Dean et al [9]. According to their reports, most medical students (82%) did not consider taking on plastic surgery elective rotations, which corroborated the findings of Al Qurashi et al [1].…”

“…Several factors impact medical students' and interns' interest in pursuing a career in plastic surgery [1]. Moreover, several studies have mentioned other influencing factors, such as the variety of career choices, the complexity of the field, future lifestyle, and enjoyable rotations in plastic surgery [2].…”

Medical Students Understanding of The Scope of Plastic Surgery

“…Plastic surgery is acknowledged for its wide range of procedures as well as patient variability deals by plastic surgeon's during day-to-day practice [5]. This particular aspect propels 53.1% of the population to choose plastic surgery as their future specialty [5]. Interestingly, 25% of the participants in the Pasha et al study's [16] rated it as the most alluring aspect.…”

“…Studies suggest that financial, professional possibilities, social status, ambitions, personal traits, location advantages, and lifestyle benefits are among the most important factors influencing medical students' decision to pursue a certain discipline. In addition, in Saudi Arabia lifestyle offered by any specialization has been the most important element affecting medical students' decisions about their medical specialties [5]. A study showed that in Saudi Arabia, boys and girls tend to favour general surgery and dermatology, respectively, in medicine [6].…”

Establishment of Saudi Arabia’s Plastic Surgery Interest Club: First-year Outcomes and Future Directions

“…4,6 Developing a deeper understanding of plastic surgery as a specialty among medical students may contribute to more creative research ideas, which could extend the field's scientific limits. 7 Researchers looked at the responses of students who chose surgery as their career field and found that those who chose surgery decided their specialty earlier than their peers, and they were much more influenced by their professors. 8,9 An analysis of 352 senior surgeons conducted by Ko et al revealed that interaction with a role model or mentor was the most important factor in choosing a specialty.…”