Pediatrics & Therapeutics
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-0665
+44 1478 350008
ISSN: 2161-0665
+44 1478 350008
Ranasinghe J M S D, Silva D T, Padeniya A, Ratnayake D R D, Epitakaduwa C, De Silva A P
Society for Health Research and Innovation, Sri Lanka
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Pediat Therapeut
Objective: To describe the problems that intern house officers have encountered during their internship due to lack of proficiency in secondary official language. Method: This is a cross-sectional study of 822 post-intern medical officers with an ethical approval from NIHS Kalutara. Results: Out of 822 immediate post-intern medical officers, 753 (91.6%) responded. Among them 369 (49%) were males with 639 (84.8%) Sinhalese and 114 (15.2%) Tamils. According to their perception, 30 (26.3%) of the Tamils are competent in Sinhalese while 75 (65.8%) had satisfactory level of competency and 9 (7.9%) are poor in Sinhalese language. Level of competency among Sinhalese doctors in Tamil was competent, satisfactory and poor in 06 (0.9%), 108 (16.9 %) and 525 (82.2%) respectively. Secondary language barrier was experienced in Medicine appointments by 261 (44.2%) out of 591. This was observed in Pediatrics, Gynecology and Obstetrics and Surgery in 141 (23.8%), 129 (21.8%) and 60 (10.2%) respectively. Conclusion: Both Tamils and Sinhalese have lack of second official language proficiency while among Sinhalese, this is more worse. This was a barrier mostly experienced during Medicine appointment.
Email: dineshanrana2000@yahoo.com