Sahel Medical Journal (Jan 2011)
Attitude of medical students to ophthalmology at a nigerian medical school
Abstract
Aim: The objective of this study was to determine the attitude of medical students to ophthalmology during their clinical posting and as a career choice. Methods: A structured questionnaire was administered to 500 and 600 level medical students of the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. Results: Three hundred students comprising 172 (57.3%) males and 128 (42.77%) females participated in the study. Seventy five students (25%) ranked ophthalmology 1st inpreference to other specialties. Two hundred and eighty six students (95.3%) found the posting interesting. One hundred and fourteen students (38%) wanted to specialize in ophthalmology. There was no significant difference between the males and females (p>0.05) in their choice of ophthalmology as a career. Conclusion: The number of students interested in choosing ophthalmology as a career at the University of Benin Medical school is high. An increase in the duration of the posting from 3 weeks to 4 weeks and increased lecturer -student interaction is recommended to further stimulate their interest. There is a need for provision of more places for residency training in ophthalmology in hospitals in Nigeria so that more doctors can specialize in it.
