Knowledge level and attitude towards complementary and alternative treatment methods among medical students: a cross-sectional survey study in Turkey

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected medical education. However, little data are available about medical students’ distress during the pandemic. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to provide details on how medical students have been affected by the pandemic. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 717 medical students participated in the web-based survey. The survey included questions about how the participants’ mental status had changed from before to after the Japanese nationwide state of emergency (SOE). RESULTS Out of 717 medical students, 473 (66.0%) participated in the study. In total, 29.8% (141/473) of the students reported concerns about the shift toward online education, mostly because they thought online education would be ineffective compared with in-person learning. The participants’ subjective mental health status significantly worsened after the SOE was lifted (<i>P</i><.001). Those who had concerns about a shift toward online education had higher odds of having generalized anxiety and being depressed (odds ratio [OR] 1.97, 95% CI 1.19-3.28) as did those who said they would request food aid (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.16-3.44) and mental health care resources (OR 3.56, 95% CI 2.07-6.15). CONCLUSIONS Given our findings, the sudden shift to online education might have overwhelmed medical students. Thus, we recommend that educators inform learners that online learning is not inferior to in-person learning, which could attenuate potential depression and anxiety.

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A Qualitative Identification of Gaps in Understanding About Brain Death Among Trainees, Health Care Personnel and Families at an Academic Medical Center

The Neurohospitalist ◽

10.1177/1941874420923906 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 266-271

Author(s):

Patrick M. Chen ◽

Jamie Nicole LaBuzetta

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Brain Death ◽

Medical Center ◽

Academic Medical Center ◽

Health Care Personnel ◽

Survey Study ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Patient Families

Background and Purpose: Death by whole brain criteria (brain death) is a clinical diagnosis. We sought to identify aspects of brain death that were unclear to both health care personnel and patient families. Methods: Institutional review board approved cross-sectional survey study of attendings, medical trainees (residents and fellows), senior medical students, advanced practice providers (APPs), and critical care nursing (registered nurses [RNs]) at a tertiary referral center over 6 months (March 2018 to September 2018). Surveys were completed on paper or electronically. Participants supplied the top 3 of (1) their own personal questions regarding brain death and (2) questions received from patient families about brain death from a prepared list of questions. Results: Two hundred twenty-nine individuals participated in the survey, with a response rate of 46%. Participation rates in brain death declaration among attendings (92%), RNs (84%), APPs (100%), and trainees of which included fellows (92%) and residents (85%) were high. Most frequently asked questions by trainees and health care personnel were “What are brain death mimics?” and “What is the gold standard testing?”. Questions received from patient families most commonly include “What is brain death?” and “Is brain death reversible?”. All medical students had questions about brain death. Greater than 75% of attendings endorsed having questions regarding brain death. Conclusion: Many health care personnel are involved with brain death declaration, but there are gaps in their understanding about fundamentals regarding brain death. We identify a need for early and targeted brain death education regarding brain death and family communication for various members of the health care profession.

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Association Between HEXACO Personality Traits and Medical Specialty Preferences in Mexican Medical Students

10.21203/rs.2.9888/v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Francisco José Barbosa-Camacho ◽

Roberto Carlos Miranda-Ackerman ◽

Itzel Vázquez-Reyna ◽

Vania Brickelia Jimenez-Ley ◽

Francisco Javier Barrera-López ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Personality Traits ◽

Group Versus ◽

Medical Specialty ◽

Survey Study ◽

Clinical Group ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Critical Choice ◽

Surgical Group

Abstract Background: Medical specialty is a critical choice in a physician’s life because it determines their professional future and medical practice. Some are motivated to choose a specific specialty based on the monetary gain it can provide; others are inspired by seeing the work performed by a physician or a patient’s recovery. It is not uncommon to stereotype doctors’ personalities by their specialty. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey study in which we administered the 100-item HEXACO-Personality Inventory-R to 292 medical students between September 2018 and March 2019. We evaluated six different domains of personality traits. We also included questions about their medical specialty of choice, their least preferred specialty, and the motivation behind these choices. The participants included 175 women (59.9%) and 117 men (40.1%). Results: When participants were asked about their preferred type of medical specialty, 52.4% indicated a preference for surgical specialties (surgical group) versus 47.6% who preferred clinical specialties (clinical group). We found that the surgical group showed a tendency toward higher scores for the extroversion (p = 0.004) and organization (p = 0.004) scales; while the clinical group presented higher scores in the honesty–humility (p = 0.038), emotionality (p = 0.048), and agreeableness (p = 0.014) scales. We identified critical differences within the overall group of medical students by sex and between medical specialty preference. Conclusions: Some classical stereotypes were confirmed by our results, such as surgical specialists being more prone to being extroverted and organized, while clinical specialists were prone to being more introverted, anxious, and more emotionally attached to their patients.

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Change in alcohol consumption and physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic amongst 76 medical students

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.12580 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

pp. e12580

Author(s):

Christina Sandell ◽

Mikhail Saltychev

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Medical Students ◽

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Leisure Time Physical Activity ◽

Survey Study ◽

Rank Test ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Higher Alcohol ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Negative Effect

Objective To investigate whether the COVID-19 pandemic has affected physical activity and alcohol consumption among medical students. Methods Cross-sectional survey study among 76 students in their second year of medical school. The Wilcoxon sign-rank test and Kruskal-Wallis H test were used to assess the difference between groups. Results Of 76 respondents, 68% were women, 66% were single and 34% were co-habiting. The median age was 21 years. Overall alcohol consumption decreased during the pandemic year by 12 g/week. Overall physical activity did not significantly change. The decrease in alcohol consumption was mostly caused by a change seen in a high tertile, change was −96 g/week. Alcohol consumption decreased more in women than in men, p = 0.0001. Conclusions It seems that alcohol consumption among medical students has decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic probably due to reduced social contacts and negative effect of social isolation. This decrease was seen especially among women and among students with higher alcohol consumption before the pandemic. Also, it seems that students had found their ways to remain active during the pandemic since the amount of leisure-time physical activity had not changed significantly.

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Involvement of Medical Students During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study

Cureus ◽

10.7759/cureus.10147 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Richard Drexler ◽

Jan M Hambrecht ◽

Karl J Oldhafer

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Survey Study ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional

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Perceptions of the Podiatric Medicine Profession: A Survey of Medical Students in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association ◽

10.7547/18-100 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 110 (5) ◽

Author(s):

Samantha A. Miner ◽

Tracey C. Vlahovic

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Online Survey ◽

Medical Training ◽

Interprofessional Relations ◽

The United States ◽

Scope Of Practice ◽

Survey Study ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional

Background Medical students (MSs) in allopathic and osteopathic medical programs may not be adequately exposed to the role of podiatric physicians and surgeons in health care. We explored perceptions of the specialty field of podiatric medicine from the perspective of MSs in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area. Methods In this cross-sectional survey study, responses regarding podiatric education and scope of practice were collected via a 16-question, self-reported, anonymous online survey distributed to MSs at one osteopathic and three allopathic medical schools in the Philadelphia area. Inferences and conclusions were drawn from the percentages of respondents. Statistical analyses for school of attendance, year of study, and physician relative subgroups were performed. Results The 129 survey responses obtained revealed misunderstandings regarding podiatric education and training. Only 45.7% correctly answered that podiatric medical students do not take the United States Medical Licensing Examination. The results also showed the perception of podiatry in a positive light, with approximately 80% of respondents agreeing that the term doctor is applicable when referring to a podiatrist. Respondents with a physician relative were more likely to rate podiatry's role in health care higher on a scale from 0 (inessential) to 5 (equivalent to MDs/DOs) than those without a physician relative. Conclusions The results of this preliminary survey were generally positive and optimistic while also identifying some misconceptions regarding MS perceptions of podiatric medical training and scope of practice. Further studies are needed to evaluate perceptions of podiatry from the perspective of other members of the health-care team to improve interprofessional relations and understanding.

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The Effects of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak on Medical Students

Frontiers in Psychiatry ◽

10.3389/fpsyt.2021.637946 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Kadir Bilgi ◽

Gamze Aytaş ◽

Utku Karatoprak ◽

Rümeyza Kazancıoǧlu ◽

Semra Özçelik

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Severe Depression ◽

Survey Study ◽

Mild Depression ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Educational Activities ◽

First Case ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Patient Health

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic has influenced the whole world, where after the first case was diagnosed in Turkey, educational activities were suspended and partial curfews were implemented. This study was conducted to assess the concerns faced by the medical students about their professional life due to the disrupted educational activities and related psychological effects.Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey study, conducted with self-administered questionnaires on Bezmialem Vakif University medical students, during the pandemic. The questionnaire consists of queries about demographics, environmental factors, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scales.Results: A total of 178 students participated in the study, with a female-to-male ratio of 5:2. Of the total respondents, 19.7% were experiencing severe anxiety, 17.4% moderate anxiety, and 37.1% mild anxiety, according to the GAD-7; and 13.5% of the respondents were experiencing severe depression, 21.9% moderate–severe depression, and 23% mild depression according to the PHQ-9. There was no statistically significant difference between the grades in terms of GAD-7 or PHQ-9 scores. Male participants were more likely to have suicidal thoughts (p = 0.013). According to our study, the factors with the highest influence on students were as follows: “Major changes in personal life,” “Disruption in educational activities,” and “Covid-19 related anxiety of loss of relatives and contamination or infection.” On average, women voted higher points for “Covid-19 related anxiety of loss of relatives and contamination.”Conclusions: We found that a significant portion of students regardless of their year in medical school were profoundly affected by the pandemic process as is shown by their anxiety and depression scores. The disruption in educational activities is one of the main factors of these effects, and we believe that these should not be ignored, as they could in the future lead to a series of problems for medical education and students alike.

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Breaking Bad News, a Pertinent Yet Still an Overlooked Skill: An International Survey Study

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare8040501 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 501

Author(s):

Abbas Alshami ◽

Steven Douedi ◽

America Avila-Ariyoshi ◽

Mohammed Alazzawi ◽

Swapnil Patel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Nursing Students ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Bad News ◽

Survey Study ◽

Formal Training ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Survey Tool ◽

Delivering Bad News

Delivering bad news to patients is a challenging yet impactful everyday task in clinical practice. Ideally, healthcare practitioners should receive formal training in implementing these protocols, practice in simulation environments, and real-time supervision with feedback. We aimed to investigate whether healthcare providers involved in delivering bad news have indeed received formal training to do so. We conducted a cross-sectional survey study that targeted all healthcare providers in the intensive care units of 174 institutions in 40 different countries. Participants included physicians, nurses, medical students, nursing students, pharmacists, respiratory technicians, and others. The survey tool was created, validated, and translated to the primary languages of these countries to overcome language barriers. A total of 10,106 surveys were collected. Only one third of participants indicated that they had received a formal training. Providers who had received formal training were more likely to deliver bad news than those who had not. Younger and less experienced providers tend to deliver bad news more than older, more experienced providers. The percentage of medical students who claimed they deliver bad news was comparable to that of physicians. Medical schools and post-graduate training programs are strongly encouraged to tackle this gap in medical education.

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FEMALE MEDICAL UNDERGRADUATE;

The Professional Medical Journal ◽

10.29309/tpmj/2014.21.03.2120 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 21 (03) ◽

pp. 566-569

Author(s):

Kamal-Eldin Ahmed Abou-Elhamd ◽

Hamed Abdullah Al-Wadaani ◽

Abdul Rehman Saleh AlMulhim

Keyword(s):

Academic Performance ◽

Medical Students ◽

Survey Study ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Medical Study ◽

Child Bearing ◽

Study Results ◽

Medical Undergraduate ◽

Married Female

Objective: Our aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of marriage, pregnancyand child bearing on the academic performance of the female medical students in Saudi Arabia.Study design: A cross sectional survey study. Methods: A batch of 53 female medical studentson the fifth class at college of medicine, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia in May 2013answered a questionnaire about the effect of marriage on medical study. Results: Thirty-ninepercent of married female medical students got a worse grade than before marriage, while30.5% got better grade (39%), and the remaining percent got the same grade. Conclusion:Marriage in itself doesn’t affect the academic performance but it is largely dependent on theindividuals involved Marriage supports them emotionally and socially.

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Assessment of Medical Students’ Attitudes Towards Research and Perceived Barriers

International Journal of Medical Students ◽

10.5195/ijms.2017.28 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 95-98 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alaa Althubaiti ◽

Bashayer Al Muqbil ◽

Doaa Al Buraikan

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Health Sciences ◽

Attitude Scale ◽

Faculty Members ◽

Survey Study ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Students Attitudes ◽

Support Research

Background: Health research has been integrated as part of the curriculum of many health sciences teaching universities. The aim of this study is to measure the attitude of medical students towards research. Methods: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted from March to May 2016 using the Student Attitude Towards Research (SAR) scale. The survey was distributed amongst undergraduate medical students at the College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdul-Aziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Main outcome measure was score on attitude scale with 15 Likert-type statements. Results: A total of 237 responses were collected from the students (55.6% males and 44.3% females). In general, students agreed that ‘research is important for identifying and investing problems in a subject matter’ (N=206, 86.9%). Female students showed significantly more positive attitude towards research (P<0.05). In regards to the degree of involvement of the faculty in the research program, 35% of students agreed that it was acceptable, and 48.1% agreed that the faculty members have adequate skills to handle research methodology. Conclusion: Most of the surveyed students were aware of the importance of undertaking medical research, but their attitude to the field was not always positive. There is an urgent need to introduce research programs as a part of the curriculum of all medical colleges, and ensure that these programs meet their goals and continue to be improved by providing good infrastructural facilities in order to provide skillful physicians to support research related activities.

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