Objectives: To identify medical students' perceptions of their learning strategies including, learning habits, resources, and preferred teaching methods, in the Department of Surgery (DOS) of the King Abdulaziz University-Faculty of Medicine (KAU-FoM), in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study which was designed to identify students' perceptions of their learning in the DOS of the KAU-FoM. A questionnaire was administered to a random group of 549 medical students, to explore student perceptions of their learning strategies including methods of learning and learning resources.
Results: The majority believed that clinical session attendance is always important compared with lectures (88.9% vs 21.9%). Nevertheless, clinical sessions were selected as the third source of learning after learning from assigned textbooks and previous examination model answers. The majority (74.1%) believed that self-instruction at home is the preferred method of learning.
Conclusion: Student perspectives should be taken into consideration prior to any future reforms of curriculum. Reforms should adopt a "think globally; act locally" educational strategy based on learner needs.
Keywords: developing countries; education; learning; medical; surgery.