Medical Intern’s Knowledge Attitude and Practice towards Specializing in Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery in a Tertiary Hospital

Abstract

Background: Medical doctors after graduating are expected to have a year of internship in an approved training institution. During the time of internship, the medical interns are referred to as House Officers who go through different clinical rotations which may alter their interest in a field. Aim: The aim is to determine the area of interest in specialization by House Officers of Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH) and determine their general knowledge, attitude, and practice of Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) Surgery. Method: This is a facility-based cross-sectional study design. The study population was House Officers in RSUTH. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed and a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to obtain information from 150 participants after obtaining ethical approval for the study. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25. Descriptive frequency analysis was done for all variables. Chi-square test was used to assess the association between socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge about ENT Surgery Result: The most common age range was 20-29 years 86 (57.3%), with equal gender distribution. The research highlighted good knowledge of ENT surgery among 110 (73.3%). Months of practice as interns and being married were significantly associated with good knowledge of ENT, p<0.05. Majority of the interns desire to specialize in ENT Surgery 24(16%) and Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Conclusion: The findings show a growing interest in ENT specialization among interns. Increasing the exposure of interns to this area of medical specialization can enhance their knowledge and interest to specialize in ENT surgery.