Ear, Nose And Throat Specialty As A Future Career Preference For Medical Students In Northern Ghana

Objective: There is a limited number of Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) specialists in Ghana with only three ENT specialists in Northern Ghana. This study examined the factors that influenced fifth and final year medical students at the University for Development Studies (UDS) preference for ENT specialization. Methodology: A self-developed semi-structured electronic questionnaire was used to collect data. The study involved a total of 114 medical students. Results: The majority of the study participants were males (64.9%) and were between the 21-35 age bracket (91.2%) with a mean age of 28.20 ± 8.05. Comparatively, less than 1% and 15.8% of study participants indicated a preference for ENT specialty before and after the ENT clinical rotation respectively. Significant motivating factors for ENT preference included good income (p < 0.001), quality of life (p < 0.001), work not too demanding (p=0.030), personal liking (p= 0.027) and having ENT specialist as a role model (p =0.012). Having a family relation as a medical doctor was a predictor of ENT specialty preference (OR 0.001, 95 % CI =5.357E-6-0.361: p=0.020). Conclusion: The study demonstrated a very low preference for ENT career specialty among fifth and final year medical students in our setting. However, exposure during ENT clinical rotation greatly influenced their preference for a career in ENT.