CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Avicenna J Med 2020; 10(03): 118-121
DOI: 10.4103/ajm.ajm_173_19
Original Article

Research attitudes, barriers, and prior experience: experience from interns working in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Yassar Alamri
Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand
Department of General Medicine, Canterbury District Health Board, Christchurch, New Zealand
,
Hassan Qahwaji
Department of Emergency Medicine, King Abdulaziz Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
,
Sara Saif
College of Graduate Health Sciences, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
,
Ahmed Abu-Zaid
College of Graduate Health Sciences, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
› Author Affiliations

Subject Editor: Financial support and sponsorship Nil.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore research productivity and attitudes by Saudi interns. Materials and Methods: Interns from two hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia were invited to participate in an online survey. Results: Fifty-seven interns responded to the survey. An accurate response rate is not possible because the invitation email reliably reached only a half of all 400 interns. Fifteen interns (26.3%) presented their research findings at a conference, and seven (12.3%) had managed to publish their findings. The main attractions to research were improving prospects of a successful residency/fellowship match (71.7%) and desire to learn more about the research subject (17%). Conclusion: Most interns in our sample expressed interest in being involved in research. The driving forces behind such eagerness, however, remain to be explicitly explored—although the majority of the sampled interns cited improved chances for a successful residency/fellowship match as the main reason.

Supplementary Material



Publication History

Article published online:
04 August 2021

© 2020. Syrian American Medical Society. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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