Postgraduate career preferences of female medical students of Rawalpindi Medical University, Pakistan

Objective: To determine the future preferences of female medical students at our institution. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was done on 150 female medical students of 3rd, 4th and final year MBBS of Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU), Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Data were collected with a self administered questionnaire on which variables such as age, year of study, parents' occupation, plan and reason of going abroad, plan and reason of studying in Pakistan and preferable field for specialization were entered. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 Results: Among 93.3% of respondents who were interested in doing post graduation, 61.4% wanted to stay in Pakistan and 38.6% wanted to go abroad. The most frequently opted fields of specialty were Medicine (39.3%) followed by Surgery (28%) and Gynecology and Obstetrics (22%). Conclusion: Medicine, followed by surgery and gynecology and obstetrics were the specialties of choice among female medical students of RMU. Career counseling sessions should be organized and admission policy can be changed to prevent overcrowding of one field and tailor needs of the country.