Medical Mycology dissertation topics require prioritisation among Postgraduate Microbiology trainees of Makerere University, Uganda.

Abstract

\n Background: The unfortunate ongoing high burden of fungal diseases requires expertise in medical mycology.Objective: The popularity of medical mycology dissertation topics among postgraduate microbiology trainees at the College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda was determined.Methods. Dissertations submitted to the Departments of Medical Microbiology and Immunology & Molecular Biology from 2011 through 2018 were reviewed retrospectively and the proportion of topics in medical mycology expressed as fractions of the total number of dissertations were analysed using descriptive statistics.Results. A total of 152 dissertations were retrieved. Of these, only 5 (3.3%) dissertations were on medical mycology compared to bacteriology (50.7%, n=77), virology (27.6%, n=42), parasitology (14.5%, n=22) and immunology (4.0%, n=6). Of the 5 dissertations on mycology, the fungal diseases studied by the postgraduate microbiology trainees were cryptococcal meningitis (40%, n= 2), Candidiasis (20%, n=1), superficial mycoses (20%, n=1) and invasive fungal diseases (20%, n=1). The most common method that was used for studying the fungal diseases was the conventional culture methods 60%, n=3.Conclusion. Medical Mycology is not a popular research topic among postgraduate trainees of microbiology at Makerere University.