Resident Doctors Perceptions Of The Postgraduate Examinations In Obstetrics And Gynaecology

The National Postgraduate Medical College was established by Decree 67 in September 1979 with the main objective of conducting professional postgraduate examinations for candidates in specialized branches of Medicine and Dentistry and to make awards thereto. A total of 46 specialists graduated from the Faculty of Obstetrics and Gynaecology over a period of 5years (1999 and 2004), which is a grossly inadequate number when one considers the high maternal mortality rate and shortage of specialists. The aim of this study was to ascertain the perception of resident doctors of the examination and make suggestions as to how their training and performance at the examinations can be enhanced. A total of 159 residents in Obstetrics and Gynaecology who attended the September 2006 update course organized by the College were interviewed with a structured questionnaire. Majority of the residents 84(53%) were between the ages of 31 and 35years with 79% being males. Seventy percent (70%) were married and 54% were 6-10 years post MBBS Seventy percent felt poor preparation of candidates was responsible for examination failure while 21% blamed this on biased examiners, 53% wanted the format for the examination to be changed with 24% of these opting for objective structured clinical examination method (OSCE). In conclusion, the study established that poor preparation, examiners bias and inadequate consultant involvement in residency training were significant causes of poor performance. Keywords: Perception, resident doctors, postgraduate examsAnnals of Biomedical Sciences Vol. 6 (2) 2007: pp. 22-2