EVALUATION OF UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM AND FUTURE CAREER CHOICES OF MEDICAL STUDENTS AT DOW UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES, KARACHI

This study designed to assess the curriculum of medical teaching and to explore the future career choices of the medical under-graduates. It is a descriptive and cross-sectional survey, carried out at the department of community medicine, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi. A structured pre-tested questionnaire was distributed to 292 fourth year medical students. Data was analysed by calculating the proportions of the students’ responses. Sixty eight percent medical students were females. A substantial proportion i.e 32.6% of students had not decided their future choices. Among 153 students who decided their career choices, most of them (28.5%) intended to choose medicine, 24.7% to surgery, 11.7% to pediatrics and 7.9% to obstetrics and gynecology as their future career profession. Only two students showed interest in basic sciences and five in medical education. Medical students favoured small group discus- sions and problem-based learning as the teaching strategy. Most of the medical students were not satisfied with the teaching program. A substantial proportion of medical students could not decide their future path.