Attitude of University of Nigeria medical students to Community Medicine

Abstract

Aims: A study was carried out among 136 final year medical students of University of Nigeria Enugu Campus, to verify their attitude to Community Medicine as well as selection of the course for future specialization. Methods: The study was a cross sectional descriptive one involving all final year medical students of the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Enugu Campus, graduating in the year 2000. Results: The study showed that the students had a fairly good attitude towards Community Medicine. However, only a minority of the students 16(11.8%) ranked it first when compared with the other clinical courses. A total of 24 (17.7%) of the students chose the course as their area of future specialization. There was no statistically significant difference between the male and female students in their opinions. Conclusion: It is recommended that some new innovative methods would be employed to increase the students' interest in the discipline, particularly the aspect of Primary Health Care which is the mainstay of the country's health care delivery system.

Keywords

• medical students
• community medicine
• attitude
• specialization