Evaluation of adolescent medicine sub-specialty training in Nigeria: trainees' perspectives

ABSTRACT

Objective: To evaluate the extent of coverage of curriculum contents pertinent to Adolescent Medicine; as well as the adequacy of facilities and professionals in Nigeria using residents' viewpoint. Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study. Setting: The Intensive Course in Paediatrics of the National Post-graduate Medical College of Nigeria at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital; Benin City Nigeria. Subjects: One hundred and three paediatric residents from training institutions in all zones of the country. Results: Altogether;68.0% and 32.0% of the participants were from Southern and Northern geopolitical zones respectively. Only 14% of them stated that a rotation in an AM unit is a part of training in their centres. None specified its duration. Coverage of AM topics; physical facilities and trainers were rated as inadequate by 77.0%; 82.8% and 70.8% of the respondents respectively. Residents from north were more likely to rate interview/ confidentiality in AM as covered (either partly or well) than their colleagues from the South; (p 0.01; OR= 5.3, 95% CI = 1.5-19.5). We found no difference between federal and state residents' perceived adequacy of AM training. Conclusion: AM in paediatric residency programme in Nigeria is still an unmet challenge. There is a need for a revision of the training curriculum to specify mandatory duration of clinical rotation in AM units