Self-medication, as one element of self-care, is the selection and use of medicines by individuals to treat selfrecognized
illnesses or symptoms. It is use of non-prescription medicines by people on the basis of their own
initiatives. Although, over the counter drugs are meant for self-medication and are of proven efficacy and safety,
their improper use could have serious implications both on health care professionals and their patients or clients.
Social work is one of the caring professions which involve promoting and protecting the welfare of individuals and
the wider community. Since, health care professionals are also segments of the community they can also be potential
candidates for social work intervention. This study aimed to assess self-medication practice among senior medical
students of Kampala International University Teaching Hospital. Facility based cross-sectional study was conducted
among senior medical students selected using stratified random sampling technique. Sample size was calculated to
be 294. Data was collected and entered in to Epi-info version 3.6 and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive
statistics was employed. Statistical significance was declared at p-value<0.05. The findings indicated that 90% of the
respondents utilize self-medication and 60% of them practice self-medication for headache/ fever. And painkillers
were the most widely used type of medicine. The major reason the respondents practice self-medication was found
to be mild illness. In the multivariate analysis, age and sex were associated with self-medication practice. The
findings of the study have implication on policy that there is a need to reevaluate drug and health policies of the
country and formulate rules and regulations regarding drug use.