Knowledge and Awareness of Histopathology Specialty by Medical Laboratory Science Undergraduate Students in Edo State

Abstract

Over the years histopathology specialty has received a lesser number of students specializing in the area according to statistics. For this reason, we investigated the knowledge and awareness of histopathology specialty amongst Medical Laboratory Science undergraduate students in the 3 institutions accredited to train students for the programme in Edo State. We also investigated factors responsible for the decline in histopathology specialization by Medical Laboratory Science undergraduate students. We used a descriptive cross-sectional study design with a structured questionnaire, which was validated and reliably tested prior to administration. Ethical clearance and written informed consent were obtained before commencement of the study. Data was analyzed using SPSS package version 16.0 while the p-value was considered significant at ≤ 0.05. Undergraduate student’s awareness for histopathology specialty is very poor. Fear of being sidelined by the pathologist after graduation (43.2%) accounted for the major reason why students stay away from the specialty. Awareness of histo-scientists or lecturers is also not encouraging as well as fear of exposures to formaldehyde or formalin and lack of lecturers/ scientist in the specialty. The knowledge and awareness of histopathology specialization in our institutions is poor and may be extricated if urgent attention is not taken in the right direction.