Original Articles STUDENT’S SATISFACTION REGARDING UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAMINATION AND CAREER CHOICES AFTER MASTERS OF PUBLIC HEALTH DEGREE

Abstract

Backround:
Each year a large number of applications are received from students in pursuance to opt for admission into a medical college. It’s a career choice for the majority of the young students owing to many social or personal factors but whether this career choice is the ultimate personal choice of the respective students is the area to probe in. This study aims to explore this aspect of individual’s life who are enrolled in masters of public health and to understand their satisfaction level regarding medical college entrance examination as pre-requisite for admission and also to assess their career choices after attaining currently enrolled degree.

Material and Methods:
This cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2020 to August 2020. The study population is mainly comprised of post-graduate students pursuing the master of public health (MPH) in a private sector university in Peshawar, Pakistan. Using a convenient sampling method, a total of 147 students were selected. Ethical approval was sought after which the data was collected which was entered and analyzed in SPSS version 23.

Results:
A total of 147 students enrolled in a public health degree program were invited to participate in this research. Among total students 52.6% of the students were registered medical practitioners and 47.4% were mainly from non-medical professions including health technology and dental technology with a majority being private employees (62.4%). The average age of students who prepared for the test for medical college admission was ≤18 years among 78.6% at the time of entry test.

Conclusion:
Most of the postgraduate students enrolled in public health programs in this study setting were medical doctors. All postgraduate students had future plans for clinical practice, teaching, and research. The students were satisfied with their intermediate examination and entry test results for admission into medical colleges. However; continuing medical professions is a preferred choice among all postgraduate students studying in the university.