Abstract:
Objectives: To determine the perceptions of medical
students in Ghana about family medicine with regard to
knowledge and relevance as well as specialty preferences.
Design: A descriptive study.
Method: The study was conducted on first clinical
year students of the University of Ghana Medical
School (first group of students introduced to the specialty
of family medicine) in July 2008, using structured
questionnaire. Data was analyzed by descriptive
statistics.
Main outcome measures: The respondents’ awareness
of family medicine, their views on the relevance of
family medicine and their specialty preferences.
Results: Level of awareness of the specialty was high
among the students (88.0%, [95% CI 80.2-93.6]). Information
from friends and relations was the major
source of awareness (29.5%, CI 20.2-40.3). Majority of
the students perceived that family physicians are capable
of providing total health care for 85-95% of their
clients (54.4%, CI 44.1-64.5) and also reduce overall
cost of health care (79.8%, CI 70.5-87.2). However,
only 2.4% (CI 0.4-7.6) were considering postgraduate
training in family medicine. The major factor for specialty
choice was personal interest (75.6%, CI 65.9-
83.6) and the main reason for not choosing family
medicine was inadequate understanding of the specialty
(79.3%, CI 69.5-87.0).
Conclusion: There is high level of awareness of family
medicine among medical students in Ghana however
very few students want to choose it as a specialty because
of inadequate understanding of the specialty.