INFLUENCE OF MANAGEMENT OF CLERKSHIP TRAINING ON STUDENTS’ ACQUISITION OF CLINICAL SKILLS IN MBALE CITY HEALTH TRAINING INSTITUTIONS, UGANDA.A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Background: This study focused on assessing the influence management of clerkship training on Students’ Acquisition of Clinical Skills in Health Training institutions in Mbale City. Methodology: The study adopted the cross-sectional design with a sample of 124 respondents from the medical staff in Mbale Regional Referral Hospital, Data was collected using questionnaires and interview guides for quantitative and qualitative data respectively. Data was analyzed using SSPSS software and content analysis respectively.  Results: Th study targeted 127 respondents but got a response rate of 124 participants and among these, nurses comprised 53(44.2%) of the sample, 46(38.3%) were Allied Health, 13(10.8%) were Midwives while 8(6.7%) were medical officers. The duration planned for clinical clerkship training is appropriate to promote students’ skills acquisition (Mean=2.11, Standard deviation=0.994). The decision rule is that the calculated p-value (level of significance) must be less than or equal to 0.05. Since the calculated p-value of 0.000 is less than 0.05, the regression model was found to be statistically significant (F=105.838, Df=1, ρ< 0.05, β=0.688) hence the Management of the Clerkships Training positively influences Students’ acquisition of clinical skills. Conclusion: Management of the Clerkships has a significant positive influence on Students’ acquisition of clinical skills. This was interpreted to mean that if Health Training Institutions in Mbale City enhance on Management of the Clerkships, there will be a positive enhancement in Students’ acquisition of clinical skills. Recommendation: Health Training Institutions in Mbale City should work more towards boosting the Management of the Clerkships towards supporting Students’ acquisition of clinical skills.