Table 2.
Opt out rates, causes of opt out and factors influencing opt out. Shows the percentage of career choice regret among medical students and the factors influencing this decision, 56.1% regretted their choice (opted out) of medical career. Reasons for opting out included: Academic difficulties, Financial Difficulties, Health related Reasons, Current political & security conflicts in Sudan, Poor Quality of Education, Multiple suspension of Education and Others
| Variable | Total group (n = 330) | Gender | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males | Females | |||||
| N | % | N | % | N | % | |
| Regret/Opt-out | ||||||
| Yes | 185 | 56.1 | 51 | 46.4 | 134 | 60.9 |
| No | 145 | 43.9 | 59 | 53.6 | 86 | 39.1 |
| Reasons for opting out: | ||||||
| Academic difficulties | 122 | 37 | 28 | 25.5 | 94 | 42.7 |
| Financial difficulties | 21 | 7.3 | 9 | 8.2 | 12 | 5.5 |
| Health-related reasons “I have a medical disease or other health-related conditions,e.g: Depression, Anxiety, Drug/Alcohol addiction etc.” | 24 | 0.3 | 4 | 3.6 | 20 | 9.1 |
| Current political & security conflicts in Sudan | 98 | 29.7 | 30 | 27.5 | 68 | 30.9 |
| Poor quality of education- | 82 | 24.8 | 25 | 22.9 | 57 | 25.9 |
| Multiple suspensions of education “i.e the University closes down a lot!” | 116 | 35.2 | 34 | 31.2 | 82 | 37.3 |
| Others | 11 | 3.3 | 2 | 1.8 | 9 | 4.1 |
| Screening for depressive symptoms: | ||||||
| Little interest or pleasure in doing things? (Anhedonia) | ||||||
| At least More than half of the days | 116 | 35.2 | 36 | 32.7 | 80 | 36.3 |
| Nearly everyday | 54 | 16.4 | 16 | 14.5 | 38 | 17.2 |
| Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless? | ||||||
| At least More than half of the days | 113 | 34.3 | 34 | 30.9 | 79 | 35.9 |
| Nearly everyday | 50 | 15.2 | 15 | 13.6 | 35 | 15.9 |