Factors affecting interns to prefer general surgery specialization

Aim: The preference rates of certain surgical branches are gradually decreasing. Considering the general surgery branch; The quotas opened in the TUS (Examination for specialty in medicine) exam are also not seriously preferred. This situation is thought to be caused by professional and social difficulties. In our study, the opinions of medical faculty interns in terms of specialization in the general surgery branch were examined. Materials and methods: Following the approval of the local ethics committee, a written questionnaire consisting of ten questions was applied to the interns of our university at the end of a one-month compulsory general surgery internship on a voluntary basis. Students who gave full answers to the survey questions were included in the study. The obtained written data were analyzed by descriptive statistical methods. Results: One-hundred-and-five interns participated in the study. Fifty-three were women and 52 were men. While 21 interns stated that they would choose general surgery as their preference (20%), 84 interns stated that they would not prefer general surgery (80%). When the interns were asked whether general surgery was preferred in TUS, 79 students stated that it was not preferred (75.23%), while 26 students stated that it was preferred (24.77%). Ninety-five percent of the interns stated more than one reason for not preferring it. When asked whether they would prefer general surgery if improvements were made based on the reasons stated, 40 out of 79 students (50.63%) stated that they would prefer it, 18 students (22.78%) stated they would not prefer it, and 21 students (26.58%) stated that they were undecided. Conclusions: General surgery is less preferred than other surgical branches in the TUS exam. Many factors have been identified in the low rate of preference for general surgery specialists by interns. With the improvement of these negative factors, preference rates can increase. Keywords: Medical faculty, medical residency, internship and residency, general surgery, surgery