Abstract
Full Article (FREE DOWNLOAD)
SMJS Volume 1 Issue 2, Page 5 - Page 15
MEDICAL STUDENTS ATTITUDE TOWARDS INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALTY AND THEIR WILLINGNESS TO TREAT INFECTIOUS DISEASES AS FUTURE PHYSICIANS
Ettab G Alsubaie, Amjad H Bin Manea, Jehan A Hawsawi, Anan H Hakeem, Afaf Moukkadem, Thamer H. Alenazi.
Background: Identifying the reasons of medical students' preferences for their future specialties might help in the development of intervention strategies to overcome the shortage of future physicians in some specialties. This study aims to assess medical students' knowledge, exposure, attitude, and interest towards Infectious Disease (ID) specialty as well as their willingness to treat infectious diseases, whether as ID or non-ID future physicians.
Materials and methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between 2017-2018 at KSAU-HS in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia using a validated questionnaire completed by 354 medical students. Descriptive statistics were performed, and Chi-square test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare variables. The level of statistical significance was declared as P<0.05.
Results: Twenty-One percent of the students considered becoming ID physicians in the future. Personal interest, a potential for research, and a wide range of patients with different ages were the most frequently chosen factors for considering ID as a future specialty. High risk of infection, broad spectrum of clinical problems, and high pressure were the most common reasons for disinterest in the specialty. The willingness to treat infectious diseases varied regarding the procedures and the diseases.
Conclusion: In this study, it has been noticed that there is a general lack of interest in ID specialty, which could be due to insufficient exposure. We suggest providing more opportunities for medical students to be engaged in ID specialty, which may help to change the students' attitude, and results in an increasing number of ID specialists in the future.
Keywords: Attitude, infectious diseases, knowledge, medical student, specialty.
To cite this article: Alsubaie1 EG, Manea AHB, Hawsawi JA, Hakeem AH, Moukkadem A, Alenazi TH. Medical Students Attitude Towards Infectious Disease Specialty And Their Willingness To Treat Infectious Diseases As Future Physicians. Saudi Med J Students. 2020;1(1):5-15
This page has been created by {Rana A Alhammad, 5th year, faculty of medicine, Qassim university}
