title: Factors involved in selection of a career in surgery and orthopedics for medical students in Malawi.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is a critical shortage of Orthopedic Surgeons in Malawi as well as all countries in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, there is no published literature that has investigated surgical or Orthopedic career selection amongst African medical trainees. With the goal of facilitating recruitment into Surgery and Orthopedics in Malawi, we explored the key aspects of Malawian Medical Students' choice of careers in surgical disciplines.
  
  
  METHODS
  An on-line survey of all students in clinical years at the College of Medicine in Blantyre, Malawi was performed. The survey was anonymous and constructed de novo by a stringent process including Item Generation, Item reduction, Survey composition, Pre-testing, Assessment of Validity by a recognized survey expert, Pilot testing in on-line format by several Malawian Medical Students, and then formal survey testing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Surgery was the most popular specialty choice among the medical trainees (46%). General Surgery was the popular surgical specialty (27%), followed by Neurosurgery (22%) and Orthopedics (19%). The majority of students (67%) feared occupational exposure to HIV but this did not appear to be a factor in specialty choice (p = 0.9). Students with Orthopedic mentors were significantly more likely to choose Orthopedics as their first choice surgical specialty (p = 0.01). Despite limited resources and surgeons in sub-Saharan Africa, surgical specialties are desirable career choices.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first evaluation of factors involved in surgical or Orthopedic career selection in any African context. Future initiatives to improve exposure and mentorship in Orthopedics are fundamental to recruitment into the specialty.
authors: Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Calgary.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Kollias
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Banza
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Mkandawire
references: Surgery. 2003 Aug;134(2):153-7
references: 12947312
references: Niger J Med. 2006 Jul-Sep;15(3):309-13
references: 17111767
references: CMAJ. 2008 Jul 29;179(3):245-52
references: 18663204
references: S Afr J Surg. 2006 Aug;44(3):88-92, 94
references: 16958234
references: S Afr J Surg. 2006 Aug;44(3):108-12
references: 16958236
references: J Surg Res. 2004 Jun 15;119(2):124-9
references: 15145693
references: ANZ J Surg. 2005 Aug;75(8):713-8
references: 16076339
references: J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2008 Jul;90(7):1598-605
references: 18594111
references: Afr J Med Med Sci. 2006 Sep;35(3):321-3
references: 17312739
references: Afr J Med Med Sci. 1998 Sep-Dec;27(3-4):209-12
references: 10497651
references: World J Surg. 2003 Mar;27(3):249-52
references: 12607045
references: J Surg Res. 2003 May 1;111(1):166-9
references: 12842462
references: Hum Resour Health. 2007 Apr 13;5:10
references: 17433100
references: Aust N Z J Surg. 1996 Jul;66(7):473-7
references: 8678878
references: J Am Coll Surg. 2006 Aug;203(2):177-85
references: 16864030
references: CMAJ. 2004 Aug 3;171(3):223
references: 15289407
references: J Med Educ. 1977 Mar;52(3):215-7
references: 839517