Choice of medicine program: A single-institution study

The decision to apply for medical school is the first and one of the most important career choices that a physician will ever make and the motives for choosing a career in medicine seem to remain relatively stable during medical school. Our study aimed to investigate what motivated the students, their satisfaction with the PBL curriculum and their plans following graduation. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out from Jan to March 2021 at Batterjee medical college, Jeddah. The data was collected on a questionnaire from undergraduate students of first year till the internship year. Among the 112 students who completed the questionnaire, 85 (75.9%) chose studying medicine to be their own choice, with service to humanity 56 (50%) being the main reason, followed by monetary 20 (18.8%) reasons. Generally 78 (69.6%) of the responders preferred the PBL curriculum over the traditional one. Most of the students 42 (37.5%) planned to undergo the residency program in Saudi Arabia, with general surgery being the specialty preferred by 33 (29.5%) students. The findings in our study suggest that altruism is the most common influencing factor that led students joining a medical college •The decision to apply for medical school is the first and one of the most important career choices that a physician will ever make and the motives for choosing a career in medicine seem to remain relatively stable during medical school.•This study outlines the factors underlying a student's decision to join a medical school.•The participants' choice of specialty in case of residency shows significant contrast between the preclinical and clinical years, with surgery and internal medicine being favored by the preclinical students (36.3% and 20.0%, respectively) in contrast to the clinical students (12.5% and 12.5%) respectively.•The findings in our study suggest that altruism is the most common influencing factor that led students to join a medical college.