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Background: Physicians who have the task of caring for the sick also need to be cared for when they take ill. Healthseeking habits of physicians have been found to be poor in most developed countries. Utilization of health services by physicians in developing countries is not known. We sought to describe the health seeking habits of physicians in Nigeria.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out among physicians at the Jos University Teaching Hospital, a tertiary referral health facility in North-central Nigeria. A pre-tested questionnaire was administered to physicians to get information on their self-reported health seeking habits. Results: Self prescription was practiced by 98.6% of the physicians, with antimalarials being the most prescribed drugs (62.5%). Only 46.9% consulted another physician when they take ill, although 78.2% felt they needed a family physician. Many (23.8%) of respondents treated their family members when last sick. The major factors considered by the respondents in choosing the physician they consulted were the specialty of the physician consulted (42.2%); the physician being in the same unit with them (38.5%), and friendship (15.6%). Four (3.7%) of the respondents would not consider any particular factor for choosing a physician if they have to. Conclusion: This study showed that a large proportion of physicians self-medicate and a few have family physicians. Guidelines need to be instituted to regulate self-prescribing among physicians in Nigeria. The role of family physicians in primary care needs to be emphasized.Keywords: Family physicians, Health seeking behaviour, Self prescribing

Background: The postgraduate training in medicine is aimed at equipping the trainee with the necessary skills to practice as an expert. The family physician (FP) is usually the first contact between the patient and the health care system. As such, it becomes imperative to assess the FP trainees' knowledge and practice with regards to chronic kidney disease (CKD) Patients and Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to physicians attending a nationally organized continuing medical education workshop for resident doctors preparing for the part I and part II exit examinations of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigerian in the specialty of Family Medicine. Results: Seventy six (20 senior residents and 56 junior residents) of the 150 physicians surveyed returned completed questionnaires. Only nine (11.7%) correctly identified CKD as occurring in approximately one in every ten individuals. CKD risk factors correctly identified by the respondents included: hypertension (97.4%), diabetes mellitus (94.4%), human immunodeficiency virus infection (75%), autoimmune diseases (51.3%), cancer (34.2%), advanced age (26.3%) and lower socioeconomic status (22.4%). Urinalysis and estimation of the GFR using prediction equations were correctly recognized as screening modalities for CKD by 72 (94.7%) and 71 (93.4%) respondents respectively. The majority (54.7%) considered proteinuria as significant when it is 2+. Four (5.3%) physicians “Always” screen for CKD risk factors when consulting a patient; 10 (13.3%) “Most times”; 48 (64%) “Sometimes”; 12 (16%) “Occasionally” and one (1.3%) “Never”.Conclusion: The overall knowledge of CKD prevalence among Nigerian FP trainees attending a workshop is poor; however the knowledge regarding CKD screening is adequate. There exists a gap between CKD screening knowledge and the practice patterns of these physicians.Key words: Chronic kidney disease; Family medicine, Residents, Screening

Background: Variceal bleeding is an important complication of portal hypertension and a major cause of death in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) world wide. This study was carried out to document the occurrence of oesophageal varices and its clinical correlates among 80 Nigerian patients with CLD. Patients and Methods: Eighty patients with CLD were stratified into three groups based on Child- Turcotte- pugh's classification for severity of CLD in a one year study. They had upper gastrointestinal endoscopy to detect and characterize varices. Results: Sixty (75%) of the patients had oesophageal varices at endoscopy with 88.3% having grade 2 or 3 varices while 73.3% had moderate/large varices. Thirty five percent of the varices had “red signs” with “red whale” markings as the predominant red sign. Gastric varices were seen in 12.5%. Variceal size was significantly associated with severity of liver disease (P