Education in blood transfusion: Adequacy of the content in the Kenyan undergraduate curricula and medical doctor's perspectives and perceptions.

Abstract

Although blood transfusion (BT) service is important in modern health care, blood is scarce, costly, and without risks. Medical education should therefore play a role in equipping medical doctors with the necessary BT knowledge, skills, and attitudes for optimal utilization of blood. This study aimed at determining the adequacy of curriculum content of Kenyan medical schools and the clinicians' perceptions of undergraduate education in BT. A cross-sectional study was conducted among non-specialist medical doctors and the curricula of Kenyan medical schools. Data was collected using questionnaires and data abstraction forms and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Curricula from six medical schools and 150 clinicians were studied. All six curricula covered topics that are essential in BT and had the content integrated into the haematology course taught during the third year. The majority (62%) of the doctors perceived their knowledge of BT as being either fair or poor, and 96% reported that knowledge of BT was important to their clinical practice. The rating of perceived knowledge in BT was significant between the different cadres of clinicians (H (2)=7.891, p=0.019), and all participants (100%) acknowledged the usefulness of additional training in BT. The Kenyan medical schools' curricula covered topics that are essential for safe BT practice. However, the clinicians felt that their knowledge of BT was not good enough and that they needed more training in the subject.