Boadi-Kusi Samuel Bert, Kyei Samuel, Mashige Khathutshelo Percy, Abu Emmanuel Kwasi, Antwi-Boasiako Daniel, Carl Halladay Abraham
Department of Optometry, School of Physical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana,
Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2015 Mar;20(1):33-44. doi: 10.1007/s10459-014-9505-9. Epub 2014 Apr 19.
Optometry is only provided at tertiary level in two institutions in Ghana, with an average of 50 students graduating each year for a population of approximately 24.6 million. No information on the demography of optometry students and factors that influence their choice of optometry as a career and institution of learning is available. This information is important as it will assist optometry institutions to formulate effective student recruitment strategies. To assess the demographic characteristics of Ghanaian optometry students, the factors that influence their selection of optometry as a career and institution of learning. We conducted a cross sectional study among Ghanaian optometry students using a structured questionnaire to collect data on the demographic characteristics and factors that might influence their choice of optometry as a career as well as choice of institution of learning. Two hundred and eighty students from the two optometry training institutions in Ghana; University of Cape Coast (48.2%) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (51.8%) responded to the questionnaire. Their ages ranged from 17 to 28 years with most being males (72.5%), and the majority (79%) being from urban areas. The main factors that influenced their career choice were job availability after graduation (90%) and desire to help other people (89.2%). Factors that influenced their institution choice were preference for an institution (36.8%) and proximity to home (24.4%). In the absence of adequate optometry jobs in the public health sector, women will remain marginalised specifically those in rural areas. This marginalisation is however, a reflection of a broader societal disadvantage for women. Greater effort needs to be made to recruit high school students from rural areas to study optometry and more institutions need to provide optometry instruction throughout the country.
加纳只有两所高等院校提供验光专业教育，每年平均有50名学生毕业，而该国人口约为2460万。目前尚无关于验光专业学生的人口统计学信息，以及影响他们选择验光专业作为职业和学习机构的因素。这些信息很重要，因为它将有助于验光专业院校制定有效的学生招募策略。为了评估加纳验光专业学生的人口统计学特征、影响他们选择验光专业作为职业和学习机构的因素，我们对加纳验光专业学生进行了一项横断面研究，使用结构化问卷收集有关人口统计学特征以及可能影响他们选择验光专业作为职业和学习机构选择的因素的数据。来自加纳两所验光专业培训机构的280名学生做出了回应，这两所机构分别是开普敦大学（占48.2%）和夸梅·恩克鲁玛科技大学（占51.8%）。他们的年龄在17岁至28岁之间，大多数为男性（占72.5%），且大多数（占79%）来自城市地区。影响他们职业选择的主要因素是毕业后的工作机会（占90%）和帮助他人的愿望（占89.2%）。影响他们选择机构的因素是对机构的偏好（占36.8%）和离家近（占24.4%）。由于公共卫生部门缺乏足够的验光工作岗位，女性，尤其是农村地区的女性，将继续处于边缘地位。然而，这种边缘化反映了女性在更广泛社会层面上的劣势。需要做出更大努力，招募农村地区的高中生学习验光专业，并且全国需要有更多机构提供验光专业教学。
