Objectives: To determine the choice of specialty in medical graduates and to verify the reasons in making this career choice in Punjab, Pakistan.
Methodology: A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 385 consultants of different specialties all over Punjab during year 2012-2013. Results were evaluated by Chi Square test to check the association of choice of specialty with different factors.
Results: Out of 385 participants, 42 (10.9%) doctors were from the Basic Sciences and 343 (89.1%) were from the clinical sciences. 243 (63%) doctors were from an internal medicine specialty and 142 (37%) were from a surgical specialty. Most common specialty was medicine and allied followed by surgery and allied and then obstetrics and gynecology. Pathology and radiology were other frequent specialties. The most preferred reasons for choosing the specialty were personal interest (76.9%), opportunity to contribute to society (48.1%), inspiration during clinical rotation (41%) and others.
Conclusion: This study elucidates the specialty preferences and various influencing factors, which enable Pakistani doctors to make a decision. When verified, these reasons can be used by mentors of medical students and directors of residency training programs to motivate students to make their career in underserved specialties in Pakistan.
Key words: Doctors, specialty preference, personal interest, inspiration.
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