Al Ajmi Ali Abdullah, Al Kharusi Fatma S, Al Khamisi Aisha H
Emergency Medicine, Oman Medical Specialty Board, Muscat, OMN.
Emergency Medicine, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, OMN.
Cureus. 2024 Jul 6;16(7):e63953. doi: 10.7759/cureus.63953. eCollection 2024 Jul.
Career indecision is a broad term that refers to the uncertainty and difficulty of decision-making regarding future careers among junior professionals. This study aims primarily to estimate the prevalence of career indecisiveness among senior medical students and medical interns in Oman. Secondly, it assesses the association of sociodemographic factors influencing it. Finally, it examines the association between participation in career development activities and career indecision among them during the academic year of 2022-2023.
A cross-sectional study was conducted using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire in the English language. Unpaired t-test and ANOVA test were used to compare means between groups. A 21-item Career Factors Inventory (CFI) was used to determine the career indecision score. These scores were further classified as low-level (score 27-71) and high-level (score 72-105). Results: The total number of participants was 161. The minimum sample size calculated was 153 participants for 95% confidence intervals. The prevalence of high-level career indecision was 63.4% (95%CI 55.4%-70.8%) among the participants. Participants with one of their parents in healthcare professions and those who did not participate in career development activities had high career indecision scores with P-values of 0.002 and 0.022, respectively. Moreover, participants younger than 25 years of age in comparison to older participants had higher need-for-self-knowledge (NSK) scores (p-value 0.018).
A high prevalence of high-level career indecision was seen among senior medical students and medical interns in Oman. Few factors were found to be statistically associated with career indecision, especially participation in career development activities. Further studies are recommended to investigate the causality of high-level career indecision among junior professionals in Oman and the contributing factors. Curricular and extra-curricular career development activities and counseling may reduce career indecision.
职业犹豫不决是一个宽泛的术语，指的是初级专业人员在未来职业决策方面的不确定性和困难。本研究主要旨在估计阿曼高年级医学生和医学实习生中职业犹豫不决的患病率。其次，评估影响职业犹豫不决的社会人口学因素之间的关联。最后，研究在2022 - 2023学年期间，参与职业发展活动与他们的职业犹豫不决之间的关联。
采用匿名自填式英文问卷进行横断面研究。使用不成对t检验和方差分析来比较组间均值。使用一份包含21个条目的职业因素量表（CFI）来确定职业犹豫不决得分。这些得分进一步分为低水平（得分27 - 71）和高水平（得分72 - 105）。结果：参与者总数为161人。计算得出的95%置信区间的最小样本量为153名参与者。参与者中高水平职业犹豫不决的患病率为63.4%（95%CI 55.4% - 70.8%）。父母中有一方从事医疗行业的参与者以及未参与职业发展活动的参与者，其职业犹豫不决得分较高，P值分别为0.002和0.022。此外，与年龄较大的参与者相比，年龄小于25岁的参与者有更高的自我认知需求（NSK）得分（p值0.018）。
阿曼高年级医学生和医学实习生中高水平职业犹豫不决的患病率较高。发现很少有因素与职业犹豫不决在统计学上相关，尤其是参与职业发展活动。建议进一步研究以调查阿曼初级专业人员中高水平职业犹豫不决的因果关系及促成因素。课程和课外职业发展活动及咨询可能会减少职业犹豫不决。
