Table 1 AAU medical students’ reported reasons for choosing medicine as a field of study and current feelings toward the discipline by gender
Characteristics | Gender | Total, n (%) | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | Male, n (%) | Female, n (%) | Â | Â |
Main reason for choosing medicine | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Interested in the field or in life saving | 160 (39.5) | 116 (59.5) | 276 (46.0) | <0.001 |
 For better income | 102 (25.2) | 22 (11.3) | 124 (20.7) | <0.001 |
 Social prestige | 65 (16.0) | 15 (7.7) | 80 (13.3) | 0.005 |
 Family or peer influence | 43 (10.6) | 20 (10.3) | 63 (10.5) | 0.893 |
 Had no better choice | 5 (1.2) | 5 (2.6) | 10 (1.7) | 0.395 |
 Assigned or imposed | 7 (1.7) | 2 (1.0) | 9 (1.5) | 0.761 |
 God’s will or childhood dream | 4 (1.0) | 3 (1.5) | 7 (1.2) | 0.855 |
 Other | 19 (4.7) | 12 (6.2) | 31 (5.2) | 0.448 |
Current feelings towards studying medicine | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Excellent | 81 (20.0) | 36 (18.5) | 117 (19.5) | 0.656 |
 Very good | 72 (17.8) | 40 (20.5) | 112 (18.7) |  |
 Good | 119 (29.4) | 58 (29.7) | 177 (29.5) |  |
 Fair | 80 (19.8) | 47 (24.1) | 127 (21.2) | 0.928 |
 Bad | 53 (13.1) | 14 (7.2) | 67 (11.2) | 0.031 |
Total, N (%) | 405 (67.5) | 195 (32.5) | 600 (100) | Â |