| ARTICLE |
|
| Year : 2000 | Volume
: 5
| Issue : 2 | Page : 96-100 |
|
|
Incidence, severity, and significance of medical student abuse
Chima Oji1, Christopher N Obionu2
1 Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria
2 Department of Community Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria
Correspondence Address:
Chima Oji
P.O.Box 3265 Enugu
Nigeria
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
|
|
|
In a survey of the incidence, severity, and significance of medical student abuse as perceived by the student population of a major medical school in Nigeria, 171 (74%) out of a total 231 respondents stated that they had been abused at some time while enrolled in medical school. The abuses ranged from verbal, physical, psychological to sexual. Fifty-three (22.9%) of the students reported having become more cynical about academic life and the medical profession as a result of these episodes. Sixty (26%) felt that they were worse off than their peers in other professions. Forty-four (19%) reported that they would have chosen a different profession had they known in advance about the extent of mistreatment they would experience.
Summarising the positive and negative effects that medical school had on their lives, 180 (77.9%) cited the ability to withstand stress as a positive by product among others, and 231 (90.9%) saw the fact that they had no time for social life as negative. We conclude that medical student abuse should not be dismissed as an isolated event; rather it should be a major concern of those involved with medical education.
|
|
|
|
| [PDF]* |
|
 |
|
