ArticleBMC research notes2017
Specialty preferences among medical students in Botswana.
Article in BMC research notes, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Future doctors, future scholars: factors influencing China-educated international medical students' career intentions in primary care and academic medicine.Human resources for health · 2026Article
- Factors influencing the choice of specialty by medical students in a new university in Rwanda.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Specialty preferences among Nigerian medical students: a cross sectional study.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Choosing the Path: Insights Into Zambian Medical Students' Specialty Selections.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Specialties preference by gender among medical students at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, South Africa.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2024Article
- The magnitude of influence of personal and professional factors on the career choices of medical students.Journal of medicine and life · 2024Article
- Perceptions and Factors That Influence the Choice of Pathology as a Career Among Medical Students in Saudi Arabia.Cureus · 2024Article
- Neurosurgery abroad? Medical Graduate's perspective from LMIC.Brain & spine · 2023Article
- Medical students' attitudes towards and views of general practice careers in Singapore: a cross-sectional survey and qualitative analysis.BMC medical education · 2022Article
- Future Dreams of Junior and Senior Medical Students at a Public Saudi Medical School.Advances in medical education and practice · 2022Article
- Medical Students' Perception Towards Choosing Pathology Program at Jazan University, Saudi Arabia.Advances in medical education and practice · 2022Article
- A thematic network for factors affecting the choice of specialty education by medical students: a scoping study in low-and middle-income countries.BMC medical education · 2021Article
- Specialty preferences and factors affecting the choices of postgraduate specialty among undergraduate medical students.Pakistan journal of medical sciencesArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundWith the establishment of a new medical college in Botswana to train generalist-doctors and specialists, we set out to explore the career preferences of medical students, factors that influence their choices and attitude to local postgraduate training.
methodsA descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among medical students in their third to fifth year, at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Botswana. The structured, self-administered questionnaires which were hand-delivered covered demographic characteristics of responders, career choices, preferred location of specialisation and factors that influenced the choices.
resultsOf the 143 medical students approached, 116 (81.0%) returned completed questionnaires. Of the responders, 102 (87.9%) intend to pursue postgraduate specialisation against 2 (1.7%) who declined; 12 (10.3%) were undecided. The four most preferred specialties which constituted 68.1% were surgery (28.4%), paediatrics (19.0%), internal medicine (12.9%), obstetrics and gynaecology (7.2%). There was male preference for surgery (p = 0.04), while women were drawn more towards paediatrics and psychiatry (p = 0.04 and p = 0.01, respectively). Personal interest and aptitude was considered the most important factor among most responders (46.2%), followed by enjoyment of the posting (19.8%). A high proportion of responders 80 (69.0%) preferred to specialise abroad for better exposure/opportunities (48.3%), while for 15.5%, their preferred courses are not currently available locally.
conclusionOur findings indicated that while four major specialties are preferred, significant gender differences exist with female students leaning towards non-surgical disciplines. Students prefer specialising abroad on the pretext that foreign centres offer better training opportunities, and many specialist programmes are unavailable locally.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.