Undergraduate Medical Students Attitude Regarding Family Medicine

The objectives of the current study were to identify the attitudes of undergraduate medical students (MS) towards family medicine (FM) as a career choice and to determine the factors influencing their decision for selecting their future career. A pre-designed questionnaire reflecting attitudes of MS towards FM as a future career was used to collect data from the 4th and 6th grade MS, College of Medicine, Taif University. The results showed that only 6 out of 119 (5.04 %) of the students preferred FM as a medical specialty. This percentage increased significantly from 3.39 % among 4th grade students to 6.67 % among 6th grade students. The most influential factor main positive predictors for choosing FM as a future career were the nature of its practice which is absence of shifts and emergency calls in addition to the positive role of the academic instructors. The main negative factors were the wide scope of sciences required. In conclusion, consolidation of FM training in the undergraduate phase and increasing awareness of MS and the community about the importance of FM are required.