Dearth of Haematologists in Nigeria: Unfriendly Specialty among Medical Students in Niger-Delta Region of Nigeria

Abstract

Background: There is continuous rise in haematology and haemato-oncology cases in Nigeria. Unfortunately, there is inadequate number of haematologists to care for these rising cases despite the high number of medical doctors being churned out by over twenty medical schools in Nigeria. Object: The aim of this study is to find out the preference rate of Haematology among medical students in a typical Nigerian medical school. Methodology: Questionnaires were used to collect data from medical students who met the inclusion criteria. The collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 22. Results were presented in Frequency distribution tables and pie charts. Results: Three hundred and thirty-one students were interviewed. The mean age was 23.47±3.92 years. Male medical students were more than the females: 193(62.1%) versus 118(37.9%), respectively, giving a male to female ratio of 1.63:1. Urhobo, 144(46.3%) and Igbo, 67(21.5%) were the two major tribes of the students. Others were the Isokos 31(10%), the Ukwuanis, 16(5.1%), and the Binis 11(3.5%). One hundred and eighty two students (58.5%) attended private schools, 116(37.3%) attended public schools while the remaining 13 students (4.2%) attended the mission schools. Two hundred and eighty two students (91%) said they would specialize while the remaining 29(9%) said they will not specialize after graduation. Surgery was the most preferred choice (23.5%), followed by Obstetrics and Gynecology (13.2%), Internal Medicine (11.9%), Family Medicine (10.9%) and Paediatrics (9.0%). Twelve point nine percent of the students have not decided which specialty they would choose. The choice to specialize in Haematology was 1.9%. Conclusion: This study showed that the preference of haematology as a specialty for specialization was abysmally too low. Haematology should be made to be more interesting and appealing to the students. There is need for re-structuring and re-organization of the medical training to increase the student-patient interaction during the students postings in haematology.