Abduljabbar Ahmed H, Alnajjar Sara F, Alshamrani Hussein, Bashamakh Lujain F, Alshehri Hisham Z, Alqulayti Waleed M, Wazzan Mohammad A
Department of Radiology, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
College of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Interact J Med Res. 2020 Apr 28;9(2):e14666. doi: 10.2196/14666.
Medical undergraduates are the future doctors of the country. Therefore, determining how medical students choose their areas of specialty is essential to obtain a balanced distribution of physicians among all specialties. Although gender is a significant factor that affects specialty choice, the factors underlying gender differences in radiology are not fully elucidated.
This study examined the factors that attracted medical students to and discouraged them from selecting diagnostic radiology and analyzed whether these factors differed between female and male medical students.
This cross-sectional study conducted at King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, used an electronic questionnaire sent to medical students from all medical years during February 2018. Subgroup analyses for gender and radiology interest were performed using the chi-square test and Cramér's V test.
In total, 539 students (276 women; 263 men) responded. The most common factor preventing students from choosing radiology as a career was the lack of direct patient contact, which deterred approximately 47% who decided against considering this specialty. Negative perceptions by other physicians (P<.001), lack of acknowledgment by patients (P=.004), and lack of structured radiology rotations (P=.007) dissuaded significantly more male students than female students. Among those interested in radiology, more female students were attracted by job flexibility (P=.01), while more male students were attracted by focused patient interactions with minimal paperwork (P<.001).
No significant difference was found between the genders in terms of considering radiology as a specialty. Misconception plays a central role in students' judgment regarding radiology. Hence, early exposure to radiology, assuming a new teaching method, and using a curriculum that supports the active participation of students in a radiology rotation are needed to overcome this misconception.
医学本科生是国家未来的医生。因此，确定医学生如何选择专业领域对于实现各专业医生的均衡分布至关重要。尽管性别是影响专业选择的一个重要因素，但放射科中性别差异背后的因素尚未完全阐明。
本研究调查了吸引医学生选择诊断放射科以及阻碍他们选择该专业的因素，并分析了这些因素在男女医学生之间是否存在差异。
这项横断面研究于沙特阿拉伯吉达的阿卜杜勒阿齐兹国王大学医院进行，于2018年2月向各医学年级的医学生发送了电子问卷。使用卡方检验和克莱默V检验对性别和放射科兴趣进行亚组分析。
共有539名学生（276名女性；263名男性）做出回应。阻碍学生选择放射科作为职业的最常见因素是缺乏与患者的直接接触，这使得约47%决定不考虑该专业的学生望而却步。其他医生的负面看法（P<0.001）、患者的不认可（P=0.004）以及缺乏结构化的放射科轮转（P=0.007）使男生放弃该专业的比例显著高于女生。在对放射科感兴趣的学生中，更多女生被工作灵活性所吸引（P=0.01），而更多男生则被与患者的专注互动且文书工作最少所吸引（P<0.001）。
在将放射科视为一个专业方面，男女之间未发现显著差异。误解在学生对放射科的判断中起着核心作用。因此，需要通过早期接触放射科、采用新的教学方法以及使用支持学生积极参与放射科轮转的课程来克服这种误解。
