Arab Medical Students’ Attitudes Toward the Arabization of Medical Education: A Multiregional Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Although English remains the dominant medium of medical instruction in the Arab world, literature regarding students' attitudes toward Arabization is largely fragmented and lacks cross-regional evaluation. This study examined Arab medical students' attitudes toward the Arabization of medical education and associated sociodemographic and career-related factors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from August to October 2025 among medical students across four Arab regions: Maghreb (Algeria, Mauritania), Levant (Syria), Nile Valley (Egypt), and Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia). A bilingual online questionnaire collected sociodemographic data, curriculum and teaching language preferences, perceived advantages and disadvantages of Arabization, and anticipated barriers. Multinomial logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with preferred curriculum language. Results: A total of 1727 students participated (56.5% female, mean age 21.8 years). Regarding curriculum language, Arabic-medium students (Syria) preferred Arabic (73.7%), English-medium students (Egypt, Saudi Arabia) preferred English (76.1% and 72.5%), and French-medium students (Algeria, Mauritania) mostly preferred Arabic (43.5%). The main perceived advantages of Arabization were better patient/team communication (66.0%) and improved understanding/retention of medical concepts (56.4%), while the main disadvantages were harder preparation for international exams (65.6%) and limited access to medical advances/resources (56.7%). Expected barriers included difficulty keeping an Arabized curriculum updated (51.2%) and insufficient faculty expertise (49.9%). Students favored Arabizing patient-facing subjects (eg, ethics, communication skills) over basic sciences. Multivariable regression showed that a preference for an Arabic curriculum was independently associated with male sex, rural residence, earlier academic years, Arabic pre-university education, currently studying in an Arabic curriculum, and lacking plans to practice/study medicine abroad. Conclusion: In this study, Arab medical students' attitudes toward Arabization appeared conditional, reflecting a trade-off between improved local clinical communication and international career opportunities. Preferences varied by sociodemographic characteristics, current curriculum language, and career intentions, with greater support for Arabization of patient-facing subjects than basic medical sciences.