Factors Influencing Sports Medicine as a Career Choice Among Orthopaedic Trainees in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Sports medicine is one of the most popular orthopaedic specialties, with more fellowship applicants than in any other subspecialty of orthopaedics. PURPOSE: To investigate the factors influencing orthopaedic trainees to complete their fellowships and subsequently subspecialize in sports medicine in Saudi Arabia, as well as to compare the motivational factors of trainees planning to pursue sports medicine versus other orthopaedic specialties. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: An online anonymous questionnaire was distributed to 400 orthopaedic surgical trainees from 44 training centers (residency and fellowship training programs) across Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire identified trainees planning to select sports medicine as their career and the most influential factors affecting their choice; items exploring the influential factors were answered on a 5-point Likert-type scale. A comparison of responses was performed with candidates aiming to pursue other orthopaedic specialties. The chi-square or Fisher exact test was used to compare demographic parameters and the percentage of “agree” and “strongly agree” responses between trainees opting for sports medicine fellowships and those choosing other fellowships. RESULTS: Of the 400 potential participants, 250 orthopaedic trainees (response rate, 63%) completed the survey (201 [80%] male and 49 [20%] female). Sports medicine was the most coveted specialty among trainees, with 70 (28%) participants opting for it as their career choice. The most prominent factors for the decision included disease prognosis and surgical outcomes (90%), personal interest (87%), experience during residency training (83%), type of surgical skills (81%), disease pathology and patient population (77%), expected workload and lifestyle (73%), role model or mentor (70%), and patient volume and variety of cases (67%). Significant differences compared with trainees who preferred other orthopaedic specialties included role model/mentor impact (70% vs 54%), expected rate of income (60% vs 47%), and private sector job opportunities (64% vs 45%) (P = .025, .034, and .020, respectively). CONCLUSION: Study findings indicated that a significant percentage of orthopaedic trainees in Saudi Arabia choose to specialize in sports medicine. Role model/mentorship, private sector job opportunities, and expected rate of income were the most influential when compared with the motivations of trainees not choosing sports medicine.