Factors influencing future career interests of pharmacy interns in Saudi Arabia: a survey from 25 colleges of pharmacy

Hundreds of pharmacists graduate from pharmacy colleges in Saudi Arabia, and various factors influence their choice of career pathway. Very few single-institution studies assessed career choices of pharmacy students with or without evaluating the influencing factors. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate career choices and the associating factors of pharmacy interns from multiple colleges in Saudi Arabia. This was a cross-sectional study that surveyed pharmacy interns from 25 pharmacy colleges in Saudi Arabia using an online questionnaire. The survey was sent during the last rotation month in the internship year (May-June 2022). Of 454 participants, 411 (90.5%) were enrolled in Doctor of Pharmacy programs. While most participants were interested in becoming clinical pharmacists (n = 183; 40.3%), a considerable number were also interested in working in different sectors of pharmaceutical companies and industry (n = 127; 28%). Internship training significantly correlated with selecting clinical pharmacy specialist career (r = 0.19; P = 0.0001), whereas salary/financial incentives significantly influenced the choice of working as sales and marketing representatives and pharmacy product specialists in pharmaceutical companies (r = 0.29 and 0.24; P