DefinePK

Abstract

Madam, medical students and newly minted physicians from several developing countries including Pakistan, plan post-graduation studies in America and England.1-5 A study in Lahore of 275 final year medical students and recent medical graduates reported 60.4% planned to seek post-graduation, with America or England as the most favoured countries.4 While another study in Karachi from two private medical colleges reported 65% to 95% of final year medical students had post-graduate study plans abroad.5 There are no such studies from Islamabad/Rawalpindi, or any studies on year 3 or 4 medical students in Pakistan.
A cross-sectional survey with convenience sampling was conducted among male and female, year 3-5 medical students in Islamabad and Rawalpindi at various medical colleges; to study their post-graduation plans, and satisfaction with their decision to go to medical college, from January-June 2011. An interviewer-administered, pre-tested, structured questionnaire with close-ended questions was used by two female and two male trained graduate students, after obtaining verbal consent and ensuring confidentiality. Results were analyzed using STATA-12, by applying chi-square and Fisher Exact tests to assess the independent relationships between categorical variables studied and gender. Statistical significance was defined by two-sided P-values of