# Factors Influencing the Preference of Medical Students at Umm Al-Qura University for Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery as a Future Specialty: A Cross-Sectional Study

## TL;DR

This study explores why medical students at Umm Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia prefer otorhinolaryngology as a future specialty.

## Contribution

The study is the first to investigate factors influencing ORL specialty preference among Umm Al-Qura University students.

## Key findings

- 36.2% of participants reported involvement in ORL.
- Female students made up 77.2% of the participants.
- Students found ORL fascinating and recommend more educational efforts to promote the specialty.

## Abstract

Background: Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) specialists treat patients of different ages, ranging from elderly patients with head and neck tumors to neonates with respiratory problems. No studies have been conducted to explore the factors that affect the preference for ORL among Umm Al-Qura University students. We aimed to investigate factors and motivators influencing medical students at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, who choose to pursue a career in ORL-head and neck surgery.

Methods and materials: This cross-sectional study was conducted over two months in 2023 among 439 students in the pre-clinical, clinical, and internship years of the Faculty of Medicine at Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia. We shared a Google Forms questionnaire (Google, Inc., Mountain View, CA) and explored factors associated with interest in ear, nose, and throat (ENT) as a future specialty. We used Pearson's chi-square test to arrive at the results.

Results: A total of 339 (77.2%) participants were female. Participants were evenly divided between pre-clinical years (213 (48.5%)) and clinical years (207 (47.2%)), with a smaller percentage in the internship category (19 (4.3%)). ORL involvement was reported in 159 (36.2%) of the participants.

Conclusion: The surgical specialty of ORL focuses mostly on conditions affecting the head, neck, nose, and ears. Since students found this specialty fascinating, we recommend that senior doctors make a greater effort to enlighten doctors-in-training about this field of expertise through lectures and campaigns at hospitals and universities.