Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Department of General Surgery, Al-Noor Specialist Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
BMC Med Educ. 2022 Feb 19;22(1):109. doi: 10.1186/s12909-022-03181-5.
Role models in the medical field are professional and experienced persons whose actions unconsciously inspire juniors to strive to be like them. To our knowledge, no studies have examined whether having a female surgical role model has influenced women to pursue a surgical career in Saudi Arabia. Hence, we sought to evaluate whether identifying role models in surgery influences career choice and defined the ideal qualities of a surgical role model as perceived by newly qualified doctors.
We employed a cross-sectional, survey- based study design, conducted between June 2020 and January 2021, in which female surgical residents completed a questionnaire about their perceptions and influence of role models in general surgery specialty at the time they pursue a career in surgery.
A total of 51 respondents completed the questionnaire. The majority of them (78.4%) had a role model and (19.6%) indicated that their role model was a female. Of those who had a role model, (67.5%) agreed that they experienced a positive influence on their surgical career choice. Clinical and operation skills were reported as the most remarkable factor to be considered in their role models. Working directly with a male surgical consultant and female surgical residents imprinted a positive influence but this did not reach a statistical significance.
The findings of this article contribute empirically to the strong effects of the same-sex role models and highlight the curial role of surgical residents in influencing female's career choices in general surgery as an achievable and attainable domain. Which encourage the creation of national mentorship programs and exploring more in barriers for pursuing a surgical career.
医学领域的榜样是专业且经验丰富的人，他们的行为无意识地激励着晚辈努力效仿他们。据我们所知，尚无研究探讨女性外科榜样是否影响了沙特阿拉伯女性从事外科职业。因此，我们试图评估在外科领域中是否有榜样会影响职业选择，并确定新获得资格的医生认为外科榜样的理想素质。
我们采用了横断面调查研究设计，于 2020 年 6 月至 2021 年 1 月期间进行，调查对象为正在从事外科职业的女性外科住院医师，他们填写了一份关于一般外科专业榜样的看法和影响的问卷。
共有 51 名受访者完成了问卷。他们中的大多数（78.4%）有榜样，其中（19.6%）表示榜样是女性。在有榜样的受访者中，（67.5%）同意他们的外科职业选择受到了积极影响。临床和手术技能被认为是榜样最显著的因素。直接与男性外科顾问和女性外科住院医师合作产生了积极影响，但这并没有达到统计学意义。
本文的研究结果有力地证明了同性榜样的强烈影响，并强调了外科住院医师在影响女性从事普通外科职业选择方面的关键作用，这是一个可行和可实现的领域。这鼓励创建国家指导计划，并探讨更多的障碍，以促进从事外科职业。
