Abstract
Optometry students in clinical years are usually faced with the challenges of making a career choice in or outside optometry. This cross sectional study was conducted to investigate the career aspirations of optometry students in Ghana. All students in their fourth to sixth year who consented to participate in the study responded to a questionnaire which explored: demographic characteristics, career aspirations, and factors influencing their choices. Descriptive statistics was used to present data as frequencies, proportions and percentages. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used to evaluate relationships between variables. Two hundred and nine students from the two optometry training institutions in Ghana; Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (49.8%) and University of Cape Coast (51.2%) responded to the questionnaire. The mean (SD) age of students was 23.6 (1.9) years (males = 65.6%). On seeking admission into the university, optometry (65.6%) and human biology/medicine (28.2%) were the leading first choice programmes among participants. Participants largely aspire to be in clinical practice (64.6%) or Academia/Research (28.2%). The major factors which influenced career choices were interest in career field (64.1%) and potential good income (38.3%). Females were twice more likely to practice optometry and pursue an interest in paediatric optometry than males. Institution of study (p = .028) and information on career opportunities (p = .018) were significant predictors of students’ decision to pursue a career in academia/research. Optometry students in Ghana largely aspire to be in clinical practice, a finding which is useful for optometry training institutions and relevant stakeholders in developing the optometry programme and projecting its future in Ghana.
Highlights
Career decisions play a crucial role in an individual’s chosen profession and overall success in life
Career aspirations of optometry students in Ghana attach some degree of diligence in selecting a career option
This was a cross sectional survey using a self-developed questionnaire (S1 Table) which was pretested on ten third year Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) optometry students and subsequently modified for easy understanding
Summary
Career decisions play a crucial role in an individual’s chosen profession and overall success in life. Wrong career decisions can have negative effects in an individual’s life so most people. There is a complex interplay of factors such as a person’s psychosocial make-up, societal expectations, job availability and personal ethos that can influence an individual’s career decision [1,2,3,4]. Career choices of health professionals such as optometrists do not affect only the individual but the society and country at large, because these decisions can go a long way to affect human resource for healthcare delivery in the country. In developing countries where there is a shortage of health personnel, these can have dire consequences on the overall health care delivery in the country [5]
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