title: Perceptions of medical students about family medicine in Ghana.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the perceptions of medical students in Ghana about family medicine with regard to knowledge and relevance as well as specialty preferences.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted on first clinical year students of the University of Ghana Medical School (first group of students introduced to the specialty of family medicine) in July 2008, using structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics.
  
  
  METHODS
  The respondents' awareness of family medicine, their views on the relevance of family medicine and their specialty preferences.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Level of awareness of the specialty was high among the students (88.0%, [95% CI 80.2-93.6]). Information from friends and relations was the major source of awareness (29.5%, CI 20.2-40.3). Majority of the students perceived that family physicians are capable of providing total health care for 85-95% of their clients (54.4%, CI 44.1-64.5) and also reduce overall cost of health care (79.8%, CI 70.5-87.2). However, only 2.4% (CI 0.4-7.6) were considering postgraduate training in family medicine. The major factor for specialty choice was personal interest (75.6%, CI 65.9-83.6) and the main reason for not choosing family medicine was inadequate understanding of the specialty (79.3%, CI 69.5-87.0).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is high level of awareness of family medicine among medical students in Ghana however very few students want to choose it as a specialty because of inadequate understanding of the specialty.
authors.affiliation: Family Medicine Unit, Department of Community Health, University of Ghana Medical School, P.O. Box GP 4236, Accra, Ghana.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Essuman
authors.affiliation: Department of Science and Mathematics Education, University of Cape-Coast. Cape-Coast, Ghana.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anthony-Krueger
authors.affiliation: University of Ghana Dental School, Accra, Ghana.
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Ndanu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012938:Social Perception; D013038:Specialization; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Family medicine; medical students; perceptions; postgraduate; residency