Postgraduate specialization in Kuwait: choices of physicians in training during 2003 to 2007

ABSTRACT

The limited amount of published data on the specialties selected by physicians in the Gulf region for postgraduate training suggest that male trainees prefer the specialties of Medicine and Surgery, with their female colleagues opting for Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, or Family Medicine. Senior medical students, too, tend to have a similar pattern of preferences in their choices for subsequent specialization. This study aimed to determine the trend in the choices made for specialization, either within Kuwait or abroad, by Kuwaiti medical graduates during the 2003 to 2007 period. Data pertaining to all trainees registered with Kuwait Institute for Medical Specialization [KIMS] from 2003 to 2007 available in the records maintained by the Postgraduate Training Division of KIMS and the Civil Service Commission of the Government of Kuwait were analyzed. Data on the physicians sent abroad by the Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University for obtaining postgraduate qualifications in clinical disciplines within the past five-year period were also included. In identifying the specialties and subspecialties and for grouping, the scheme recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties [ABMS] Member Boards was used. Of the total of 375 trainees in postgraduate training at the training centers in Kuwait, the highest proportion [35.2%] had selected Family Medicine, with Internal Medicine [14.7%], General Surgery [10.1%], Pediatrics [8.3%], Radiology [7.7%], and Laboratory Medicine [7.4%] being next in an order of preference. Out of 231 physicians who had gone abroad for higher training, Internal Medicine and its subspecialties had attracted the highest proportion [20.8%] of trainees. General Surgery and its sub-specialties [13.0%] and Pediatrics and its subspecialties [12.6%] were the next fields in highest demand. A substantial proportion [8.2%] of trainees had chosen Public Health, as well. Only a few physicians had selected the specialties of Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care, Ophthalmology or Radiology. The majority of physicians undertaking postgraduate training locally tend to choose Family Medicine, while those going abroad on scholarship show a preference for hospital-based specialties. With the State providing opportunities to medical graduates for postgraduate specialization locally or abroad, physicians need to be directed towards choosing specialties that match the health-care service needs of the country. Expanding the opportunities available for training within the Gulf region is likely to contribute positively towards success in the measures implemented