ArticleBMC medical education2026
Determinants of surgical specialty interest among clinical-year medical students in Syria: a multicenter cross-sectional study.
Article in BMC medical education, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSurgical workforce recruitment remains a global concern, particularly given persistent gender disparities in surgical specialties. In Syria, evidence on medical students' surgical career intentions remains limited. This study assessed planned surgical specialty interest and associated demographic, educational, exposure-related, mentorship, and gender/social perception factors among fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-year medical students.
methodsA cross-sectional online survey was conducted among medical students in Syria between January and May 2026. The Arabic questionnaire assessed sociodemographic characteristics, surgical exposure, mentorship, specialty preferences, perceived determinants of specialty choice, and surgery-related perceptions. The primary outcome was planned entry into a surgical specialty versus non-surgical or undecided preference. Data were analyzed using bivariate tests and multivariable binary logistic regression.
resultsA total of 680 students were included; 350 were female (51.5%), and the median age was 23 years (IQR, 22-24). Overall, 252 students (37.1%) planned to enter a surgical specialty. Males were more likely than females to plan a surgical specialty (47.0% vs. 27.7%, p < 0.001). In the adjusted model, females without hijab (AOR = 0.445, 95% CI: 0.290-0.684, p < 0.001) and females with hijab (AOR = 0.313, 95% CI: 0.198-0.494, p < 0.001) had lower odds of surgical specialty interest compared with males. Observing surgeries for more than 20 h (AOR = 3.054, 95% CI: 1.405-6.639, p = 0.005) and having a surgeon mentor (AOR = 2.342, 95% CI: 1.537-3.568, p < 0.001) were associated with higher odds of surgical interest.
conclusionSurgical specialty interest among Syrian medical students was associated with sex/hijab status, operative exposure, mentorship, and university. Structured surgical exposure, formal mentorship, and visible role models may support more informed and equitable surgical career choice.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.