The prospect of anatomy as a career choice among clinical year medical students in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND

Medical doctors are potential important source of anatomy teachers. The aim of this study was to determine the choice of anatomy as a career option among medical students in a Nigerian medical school

METHOD

Descriptive survey of second- and third-year medical students using a self-administered questionnaire to asses age, sex, perception of anatomy as a subject, anatomy training experience and choice of anatomy as a career among respondents. Analysis was conducted using the SPSS and statistical significance inferred at P RESULTS: Three hundred and fifty three (85.3% response rate) who completely filled questionnaire were returned and analyzed of which 195 (55.2%) were males and 158(44.8%) were females. Their ages ranged between 18 and 37 years with a mean of 22.4 9.9 years. Although most students agreed that anatomy was an important subject in medical sciences 346 (98%), they had benefited from anatomy training in their clinical classes 320 (90.7%), and the knowledge of anatomy is useful in investigating patients with certain diseases 251 (71.1%), only 22 (6.2%) would choose anatomy as a career. Male students were more likely to choose anatomy as a career (P=0.026). Textbooks were the most common 334 (94.5%), while radiological means were the least 23 (6.5%) method employed in learning anatomy.

CONCLUSION

Anatomy as a subject is perceived positively by clinical medical students, but the choice as a career option is low; attempt at increasing career interest is needful.