Studying specialty preference can help provide important information to aid in planning educational
programs, set priorities, and plan for the provision of adequate health care for our different countries.
This study aims to identify the career preferences among medical students in a tertiary educational
institution and also to explore factors that affect their choice of specialty and differences that may arise
in preferences of male and female students. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional design carried
out between September and October 2011. A total of 160 medical students from 400 to 600 levels
studying at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Medical School were recruited for the study using
stratified sampling method. A set of semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was used to
obtain data from the respondents. Surgery was the most preferred specialty among male respondents
(30.4%), while Obstetrics and Gynecology was the most preferred (26.7%) among female respondents.
Some of the reasons proffered by the respondents for specialty preference include interest in research
(10%), focus on urgent care (10%), reputation of the specialty (8.8%), and diversity of patients (8.8%).
Logistic regression model was able to explain between 42.7% (Cox & Snell R Square) and 43.2%
(Nagelkerke R Square) of variance in specialty preference of respondents with .respondents’ sex, and
fathers education level) contributing significantly to the model.