Cardiovascular Journal of Africa: Vol 28 No 5 (September/October 2017)

CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 28, No 5, September/October 2017

AFRICA

297

scholarship in CTS maintained their interest over time, and more

than half maintained their interest in a surgical speciality.

On account of these demographics and attitudes towards

thoracic surgery, many foreign surgical societies have intensified

efforts to attract medical and pre-medical students to a career

in CTS. Cardiothoracic surgeons should identify and encourage

those interested in CTS, and provide the necessary advice and

mentorship.

In the UK, the professional insecurity brought about by

publication of surgeon-specific mortality data and the poor

publicity surrounding cardiothoracic surgery is believed to

be responsible for the decline in CTS among UK graduates.

Bridgeman

et al

. also believed that relative lack of engagement

with medical students is an additional factor.

Vaporciyan

et al

. surveyed the factors affecting the interest

in CTS among general surgery residents in the USA, and they

noted that the dominant concern was job availability and

security. Other important factors were mentorship and exposure

to the CTS faculty.

Lack of jobs, especially in the private sector,

may have been responsible for the increased number of surgeons

who sub-specialised in adult cardiac, paediatric cardiac, thoracic

and transplantation surgery.

The reasons for a decline in interest in CTS among junior

surgical residents in Nigeria differed from those obtained

from similar studies in developed countries. In the setting of

a few thoracic surgeons in a densely populated country such

as Nigeria, job availability is not likely to be an issue, as many

university hospitals do not have a single thoracic surgeon.

Conclusion

In Nigeria, CTS is unattractive to junior surgical residents.

There is a need for government to improve sponsorship and

provide facilities to commence, maintain and sustain open-heart

surgery programmes. There is a need for cardiothoracic societies

in Africa to do more to provide opportunities to help and

encourage medical students and junior residents. Cardiothoracic

surgeons also need to identify and encourage those committed to

pursuing a career in CTS and provide better mentorship to those

who still have a chance of specialising in CTS.

The authors thank all the surgeons who assisted us in distributing and retriev-

ing the questionnaires.

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