title: Demographic characteristics of Ghanaian optometry students and factors influencing their career choice and institution of learning.
abstract: Optometry is only provided at tertiary level in two institutions in Ghana, with an average of 50 students graduating each year for a population of approximately 24.6 million. No information on the demography of optometry students and factors that influence their choice of optometry as a career and institution of learning is available. This information is important as it will assist optometry institutions to formulate effective student recruitment strategies. To assess the demographic characteristics of Ghanaian optometry students, the factors that influence their selection of optometry as a career and institution of learning. We conducted a cross sectional study among Ghanaian optometry students using a structured questionnaire to collect data on the demographic characteristics and factors that might influence their choice of optometry as a career as well as choice of institution of learning. Two hundred and eighty students from the two optometry training institutions in Ghana; University of Cape Coast (48.2%) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (51.8%) responded to the questionnaire. Their ages ranged from 17 to 28 years with most being males (72.5%), and the majority (79%) being from urban areas. The main factors that influenced their career choice were job availability after graduation (90%) and desire to help other people (89.2%). Factors that influenced their institution choice were preference for an institution (36.8%) and proximity to home (24.4%). In the absence of adequate optometry jobs in the public health sector, women will remain marginalised specifically those in rural areas. This marginalisation is however, a reflection of a broader societal disadvantage for women. Greater effort needs to be made to recruit high school students from rural areas to study optometry and more institutions need to provide optometry instruction throughout the country.
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry, School of Physical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana, sboadi-kusi@ucc.edu.gh.
authors.forename: Samuel Bert
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Boadi-Kusi
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kyei
authors.forename: Khathutshelo Percy
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Mashige
authors.forename: Emmanuel Kwasi
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Abu
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Antwi-Boasiako
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carl Halladay
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009907:Optometry / Q000193:education*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires