• Sohail Anjum and Usman Mahboob.
• Assistant Professor of Anesthesia, Sahara Medical College Narowal, Pakistan.
• J Pak Med Assoc. 2016 Oct 1; 66 (10): 1205-1209.

ObjectiveTo determine the perceptions of house officers working in hospitals about joining anaesthesiology as a career.MethodsThis quantitative, descriptive questionnaire-based study was carried out from September 2014 to February 2015 in 26 teaching hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan, and comprised house officers. Those with at least three months of working experience in anaesthesiology were included. They were approached in their respective departments and a validated self-reporting questionnaire was delivered to them and received back by hand. SPSS 16 was used for data analysis.ResultsOf the 73 house officers approached, 53(72.6%) responded; 35(66%) men and 18(33%) women. Overall, 25(47.16%) respondents refused to join anaesthesiology as a career and 27(50.94%) included it in their first three career choices. Moreover, 25(47.16%) cited minimal interaction with patient as a reason for not taking anaesthesia as a career choice; 29(56.6%) of the respondents believed an anaesthetist had no or little role in surgery. Change in attitude about anaesthesiology as a specialty after having an anaesthesia rotation was mentioned by 26(49.05%) respondents.ConclusionsHouse officers had reservations about joining anaesthesiology as a career. The findings are suggestive of a positive effect of anaesthesiology house job on house officers attitude about the specialty.

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