CHOOSING A MEDICAL CAREER: WHAT INFLUENCES SECONDARY SCHOOL FEMALE GRADUATES?

OBJECTIVE: To assess attitudes and reasons of secondary school female students for choosing medicine as a career. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study with a sample of 191 female students, who responded to an administered questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean age of the students was 18.3 ± 0.94. The mean general average test scores for female students who applied to medicine, MLT and Nursing was 94.02%, 91.26% and 86.78% respectively. Personal interest was the main reason in 85.7% of the applicants. Only 109 students (57.1%) of the study group have any knowledge about the profession of Medicine. One hundred sixty one of the students (84.3%) expected difficulties in their studies. CONCLUSION: The study showed that personal interest was the main reason behind the students′ choice. A sizable proportion had no knowledge of the specialty they opted for, while more than 80% of the applicants anticipated some difficulties upon entering the Medical College. The majority of MLT applicants were not interested in nursing as a specialty. The current strategy for educating secondary school female students about Medical College programmes should be strengthened.