PURSUIT OF POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION ABROAD

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The globalization of medical education has led to an increasing trend of medical students considering postgraduate studies abroad. This phenomenon is influenced by various factors, including academic, personal, and professional motivations. While some students may be attracted to prestigious international institutions or specialized training opportunities not available in their home country, others may seek better career prospects, exposure to diverse healthcare systems, or personal reasons such as concerns of political instability and safety issues. Understanding the drivers behind medical students' decisions to pursue postgraduate studies abroad is essential for medical educators, policymakers, and healthcare stakeholders to address the implications for workforce planning, training programs, and retention strategies. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the factors influencing medical students at the University of Benin to preferably pursue postgraduate studies abroad, with a view to providing recommendations for improving postgraduate medical education in Nigeria. METHODOLOGY: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used for this study. One hundred and fifty medical students in the University of Benin were selected for this study using a multi staged sampling technique. Data was collected using self administered questionnaire and analyzed using the IBM SPSS version 25 with the level of significance set at p < 0.05. Data was categorized and analyzed using descriptive statistics, frequencies and percentage based on the total number of respondents. Univariate analysis was carried out on the sociodemographic data to analyze the sample population, bivariate analysis was done to determine the relationship between variables such as: age, sex, likelihood to go abroad, etc. Multivariate analysis was done using multiple logistic regression to identify the correlation between variables. The results were presented with tables, charts and prose. xi RESULT: One hundred and fifty medical students.