Knowledge and practice of professionalism and ethics among Radiography Students during clinical practice at Makerere University

Abstract

Background. Radiography practice integrates scientific knowledge and technical skills which has to be complemented by regular exercise of sound professional and ethical judgment in order to ensure quality patient care and acquisition of useful diagnostic information. This study investigated the knowledge and practice of professionalism and ethics among radiography students during clinical practice at Makerere University Aim. The study will assess the knowledge and practice of professionalism and ethics among radiography students during clinical practice at Makerere University Methodology. The study was a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted to target at radiography students in clinical years practising in different hospitals affiliated to Makerere University College of Health Sciences. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires that were only filled out and returned. Data collected was analysed using Microsoft excel and presented using descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, percentages and frequencies. Results. 47 out of the required 50 radiography students participated in the study giving a response rate of 94.0%. Majority of the respondents were females (74.5%), in year 4 (74.5%) and were Ugandans (93.6%). Majority of the respondents were aware that the knowledge and implementation of medical ethics is very important (53.19%) and only 55.32% of the respondents knew all the four principles of medical ethics. The major source of medical ethics knowledge among students was from Lectures /seminars / clinical discussions (77.47%). Majority of the respondents agreed that medical ethics teaching for medical students is an important aspect of medical education (85.11%) and it is crucial to good patient care (74.47%). Conclusion. The knowledge of professionalism and ethics among radiography students was relatively good. Registered professional should provide detailed guidelines on medical ethics in their journals, to prepare future generations of medical professionals for ethically sound practice. Clinically oriented pedagogical measures like case studies, seminars, interactive workshops, should be utilized in an ongoing process, akin to continuing medical education.