The Atlantic Journal of Medical Science and Research (Atlantic J Med Sci Res), vol.2, no.4, pp.79-83, 2022 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
Aim: The preference rates of certain surgical branches are gradually decreasing.
Considering the general surgery branch; The quotas opened in the TUS
(Examination for specialty in medicine) exam are also not seriously preferred.
This situation is thought to be caused by professional and social difficulties. In
our study, the opinions of medical faculty interns in terms of specialization in the
general surgery branch were examined.
Materials and methods: Following the approval of the local ethics committee,
a written questionnaire consisting of ten questions was applied to the interns of
our university at the end of a one-month compulsory general surgery internship
on a voluntary basis. Students who gave full answers to the survey questions were
included in the study. The obtained written data were analyzed by descriptive
statistical methods.
Results: One-hundred-and-five interns participated in the study. Fifty-three were
women and 52 were men. While 21 interns stated that they would choose general
surgery as their preference (20%), 84 interns stated that they would not prefer
general surgery (80%).
When the interns were asked whether general surgery was preferred in TUS, 79
students stated that it was not preferred (75.23%), while 26 students stated that
it was preferred (24.77%). Ninety-five percent of the interns stated more than
one reason for not preferring it. When asked whether they would prefer general
surgery if improvements were made based on the reasons stated, 40 out of 79
students (50.63%) stated that they would prefer it, 18 students (22.78%) stated
they would not prefer it, and 21 students (26.58%) stated that they were undecided.
Conclusions: General surgery is less preferred than other surgical branches in the
TUS exam. Many factors have been identified in the low rate of preference for
general surgery specialists by interns. With the improvement of these negative
factors, preference rates can increase.