FACTORS INFLUENCING THE CHOICE OF CARDIAC SURGERY AS A CAREER AFTER GRADUATED IN SAUDI ARABIA: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVES: Cardiac surgery is one of the least popular specialties among medical graduates in Saudi Arabia. We sought to explore this further by estimating medical students’ and interns’ interest in the field at Umm Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia. Further, we aimed to determine the factors that influence medical interns and students in Saudi Arabia to pursue a career in cardiac surgery. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among third- to sixth-year medical students and medical interns at Umm Al-Qura University through a self-administered electronic questionnaire. In addition to evaluating various factors that may influence a student’s choice to pursue cardiac surgery as a future career choice, the questionnaire evaluated previous participation and experience in cardiothoracic surgery and current career preferences. RESULTS: A total of 428 medical students and interns completed the questionnaire. Only 17% reported that they were serious about pursuing a career in cardiac surgery, while 71% had no idea about the current training pathway for cardiac surgery, and 83% had not spent any time in a cardiac surgery placement. The majority (81%) of the participants perceive that they need more exposure to cardiac surgery in their medical curriculum, while 90% have never scrubbed into a cardiac operation, which is a significant percentage. CONCLUSION: The main determinant factor of whether to pursue cardiac surgery as a future career was job satisfaction, and the main deterrent factor was the perceived high work intensity of cardiac surgery as a specialty. Increased exposure and close mentoring are required to encourage more students to pursue a career in cardiac surgery.