Factors Influencing the Selection of Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine as a Preferred Programme of Study among the University of Zambia Veterinary Students, Zambia

Career selection is a very crucial and critical stage in one's life, it demands consideration of many factors. In the past making career choices was not difficult and dependent on family background, which could have led to job dissatisfaction. Making a career choice in veterinary medicine was more challenging because veterinary medicine was considered a masculine job and thus discriminated against women. However, veterinary medicine now offers multifaceted career prospects that cut across gender and race. This study was aimed at identifying factors that influenced enrolled veterinary students at the University of Zambia students in selecting the Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (BVM) as the preferred program of study; and to asses the challenges faced by the students. This was a cross-sectional study conducted among veterinary students from 2nd to 6th (final) year students regardless of age or gender. A total of 145 students were enrolled and a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to each participant to collect demographic, socioeconomic and environmental factors hypothesized to influence selection of Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine as the program of choice. Data was summarised into proportions and presented in percentages. A total of 135 participants completed the questionnaire in full, with 51% of respondents being females. Several factors were observed to have influenced career choice among the veterinary students, however, majority (46%; 62/135) of students indicated that they were personally interested in the programme and loved working with animals. It was further noted that parents and friends were the main source of information regarding the BVM programme, indicating the need for the University to provide complete information to prospective students so that they can make informed decisions. Workload was the was the major challenge the students indicated in their pursuit of the degree. The study findings indicate the University of Zambia needs to device ways to communicate to prospective students to ensure that they have complete and current information on programmes on offer to avoid misinformation which is likely among peers and if coming from uniformed third parties. The findings also agree with literature indicating work overload as one of the challenges veterinary students face in their pursuit for the degree.