THE ATTITUDE OF CLINICAL MEDICAL STUDENTS TOWARDS ANATOMIC PATHOLOGY AS A LIKELY SPECIALTY CHOICE; CAN A PARADIGM SHIFT CHANGE THE CURRENT NARRATIVE?
*Akpor I. O., Richard S. K., Emmanuel I, Agwa M. N., Ukpabi D. E., Terkula G. D.
ABSTRACT
Background: Certain health care specialties are more acutely at risk of suffering from Physician shortages as is currently experienced, or may be in the nearest future. This may not be readily divorced from the perceptions that clinical undergraduate students of medicine hold in respect of the specialties in question. Methodology: In our study, the two most senior classes of clinical students were surveyed from two medical schools in North central Nigeria, namely the Colleges of Health sciences of the Father Adasu University Makurdi (formerly Benue State University) and University of Jos. The objective of the study was to assess the attitude of the medical students as to determine how much they are willing or are disposed to choose the discipline of Anatomical Pathology as a likely future career. Results: From our findings, the following are the impressions or perceptions they generally hold in respect of Anatomic Pathology. Out of 193 students, 4.4% opted to consider anatomic pathology as a specialty to choose, despite that a significant percentage (66.8%) think of it as interesting and important in diagnostic medicine. Conclusion: Despite the degree of importance and interest used to describe students’ perception of the specialty of anatomic pathology, it has been quite underrepresented when it comes to selecting it as a career to practice. This is undergirded by very limited students exposure to its practical aspects and clinical application.
Keywords: Anatomic Pathology, Medical students’ attitude or perception, Specialty choice, Paradigm shift.
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