Motivational Factors and Training Aspects in Postgraduate Students of Anaesthesiology: A Survey

Introduction: Anaesthesiology is a fast growing branch of medicine. There is marked shortage of anaesthesiologists in India and this hinders the growth of surgical and interventional specialities which hinges on well-trained, enthusiastic anaesthesiology support. Exploring the perceptions about the speciality among Postgraduate (PG) students could help in planning strategies to make a career choice in anaesthesiology look more attractive. Aim: To explore the motivational factors for the choice of anaesthesiology for postgraduation, various aspects of PG training, stress among PGs and satisfaction with career choice in order to delineate the perceptions about the speciality among the medical graduates and to find out avenues for improvement to make the speciality more attractive. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was distributed among 300 PG students in anaesthesiology who attended various national level conferences in India and state level conferences in Kerala between November 2015 and March 2018. Data collected was statistically analysed using R software version 3.1. All the quantitative variables were summarised as mean±SD (Standard Deviation) or median with IQR (Inter Quartile Range) depending on the distribution. Qualitative variables were summarised as proportions. Association between factors was analysed using Chi-square test or Fisher’s-exact test. Results: Anaesthesiology was the first career preference for only 34.63% (n=88) of the participants. Predominant reasons for choosing anaesthesiology included unavailability of other specialities (32.8%, n=82) and good job opportunities without need of super specialisation (32%, n=80). After joining anaesthesiology, majority (68%, n=175) were satisfied with their career choice. Satisfaction with PG training, assessed by the Likert scale was high among the participants and majority suggested improvements especially in theory classes, case discussions and simulation. Stress was experienced by 60% (n=154) of participants ascribed mainly due to lack of time for academics due to high workload. Conclusion: Improving awareness among public health professionals and medical students and increasing Undergraduate (UG) exposure to the subject would increase the proportion of students joining anaesthesiology with genuine interest and improve the recruitment profile. Modifications in training and measures to reduce stress during training should also be considered.