Why Pakistani students join medical college: passion or pressure

Objective: To assess the reason of Pakistani students joining medical profession as their passion or family pressure. Methodology: The study was conducted in Fauji Foundation Hospital (FFH) and Foundation University Medical College (FUMC), Islamabad, Pakistan. It was a descriptive cross sectional study which included a total of 300 MBBS students of first and second year (Batch 2017 and 2018) by convenience sampling. Views of the students pertaining to reasons for joining the medical field as well as their future ambitions were recorded. Results: Three hundred students who participated in this research were asked to fill a questionnaire regarding their reasons of joining medical college. Majority of the students 25% said that it was their own choice to join the medical profession, whereas 16.7% students stated that they chose to become doctors because it was their parents' wish. 7% students expressed that they entered this field by chance or mere luck. There were 36.3% and 27.7% students who showed inclination towards general surgery and general medicine respectively as their future career line. In addition, 12% students were undecided about their future ambition with respect to specialization. Conclusion: The study concluded that low number of students from the total join the medical field willingly which is alarmingly, therefore it is need to address this issue on a war foot. Parents should realize that it is unwise to force their children to join a profession as demanding as medicine.