Admissions in Allied Health Sciences Degree Programs: Factors Associated with Enrollments Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70749/ijbr.v3i3.2544Keywords:
Open Tibia Fracture, Road Traffic Accidents, Orthopedic Trauma, Ayub Teaching Hospital AbbottabadAbstract
Background: Allied health sciences in Pakistan has witnessed a rapid surge in the enrollments recently with a dearth of admissions few years back. Factors involved in decision-making among prospective current students’ interest in these disciplines needs to be explored. Hence, this study was conducted with the objective to explore the factors involved in increasing trends of enrollments in disciplines of Allied Health Sciences. Subjects and Methods: This mix methodology research design study recruited N=380 students enrolled in different degree programs of allied health sciences of private universities of Lahore, from February 2019 to June 2019, using convenience sampling. A self-designed Tool for Assessment of Behavior Control was used for data collection. Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 22. Descriptive statistics was utilized. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to assess difference between subscales of TABC. Results: Factors involved in decision making among students were identified & all domains revealed significant association with degree program (p<0.05) with Attitude having highest mean scores for DPT indicating high level of personal attitude towards the degree, while it was least for DDNS, Subjective Norms having highest scores for DMLS. Different domains also revealed association with age, gender, semester and residential area. Thematic analysis revealed seven themes affecting enrollment in AHS with quality of education and demand of degree in future affecting enrollment. Conclusion: Students with the professional degree program of DPT possess a high level of personal attitude and education planned behavioral control & intentions, while those with DMLS have high level of educational planned behavioral control, educational attitude, educational subjective norms and intentions toward their degree program. Most important themes affecting enrollment include quality of education & professional degree program, age, gender, semester level, and residential area.
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