Graduate students’ interest in immunology as a discipline

Abstract

Interest and motivation significantly influence achievement; however, interest in immunology remains to be determined. Using a structured questionnaire, the current study assessed for the first time interest in immunology among biomedical graduate students in Ghana after a one-week introduction to immunology course. Our results revealed that approximately 80% of study participants expressed an interest in immunology. In addition, we showed that interest in immunology was independent of age and gender of the study participants. More interestingly, we observed that interest in immunology was primarily influenced by career choice. The findings from the present study have implications on immunology education and calls for investment in building capacity in immunology especially in developing countries.

Keywords

• immunology
• interest
• students
• graduates
• ghana