Medical internship training in Saudi Arabia: interns’ views and perceptions

BACKGROUND Internship training offers an important opportunity for personal development and career planning. However, there are many factors affecting the efficiency of training, and the views of interns are rarely considered. The main objective of this study was to explore the views of interns enrolled in Jazan University internship program during the year 2015. SUBJECTS AND METHODS A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the Jazan region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, during the academic year 2015. To achieve the study goals, an online questionnaire was distributed to all interns (n=85) enrolled in the Jazan University internship program. RESULTS Results revealed that satisfaction with training was more evident in general surgery and pediatrics (76.1%, n=54 and 77.5%, n=55, respectively). Satisfaction was lowest for obstetrics and gynecology programs (45.1%, n=32), while in internal medicine it was 54.9% (n=39). Training in general surgery and pediatrics was rated as excellent by most of the interns (45.8% and 43.1%, respectively). The picture is reversed in obstetrics and gynecology, as 43.1% rated it as average. More than half of the study sample felt that they were well prepared to start the next step in their career at the end of internship (50.7%), while 25.4% felt that they were moderately prepared. CONCLUSION It is clear that training quality in views of interns is variable across the major specialties, and there are some problems in obstetrics and gynecology training. More studies are needed to explore in-depth dimensions of internship training program in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.