Attitudes towards psychiatry of undergraduate medical students at Bayero University, Nigeria

South African Journal of Psychiatry

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Attitudes towards psychiatry of undergraduate medical students at Bayero University, Nigeria
 
Creator Aghukwa, N C
 
Subject Social psychiatry attitudes; students; psychiatry
Description Background. This study determined and compared responses of 5th- and 6th (final)-year medical students on their attitudes to psychiatry as a profession. Also elicited were their choices of area of future medical specialisation.Method. A prospective and cross-sectional study using an adapted 27-item self-administered questionnaire to obtain responses from 91 5th- and 6th-year medical students at Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria.Results. More than 60% of the students’ first choices for future specialisation were surgery, obstetrics/gynaecology or internal medicine. Psychiatry was the first preference for less than 2%. More than 75% of the students’ views on the overall merits and efficacy of psychiatry were positive, although they felt that psychiatry had low prestige and status as a profession. In addition, the same proportion considered that psychiatry was scientific, making advances in the treatment of major mental disorders, and helpful in liaison practice. More than 50% stated that psychiatry would not be their choice of last resort for residency education and the same proportion felt that friends and fellow students rather than family members would discourage them from specialising in psychiatry. More than 50% would feel uncomfortable with mentally ill patients, felt that psychiatry would not be financially rewarding, and did not think that psychiatrists abuse their legal power to hospitalise patients. Attitudes of the two groups of students to psychiatry as a profession were not significantly different (p0.05).Conclusion. A clinical clerkship in psychiatry did not influence the students’ choice of future specialisation.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Nil
Date 2010-12-01
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — survey
Format application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v16i4.239
 
Source South African Journal of Psychiatry; Vol 16, No 4 (2010); 6 2078-6786 1608-9685
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/239/238 https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/downloadSuppFile/239/12
 
Coverage Africa; Nigeria; Aminu kano Teaching Hospital The study, which was prospective and comparative, occurred in February 2008 among the 5th and final year clinical students of Bayero University Kano. At that time, the final year students’ were two months post clinical clerkship in psychiatry. The fifth y mean age 25yrs; mainly males; majority, hausa Fulani ethnicity
Rights Copyright (c) 2010 N C Aghukwa https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT