A survey of medical students' attitudes and practices towards narcotics
                        and psychotropic drugs

AbstractAlthough medical students enter medicine with altruistic motives and seek to serve indigent populations, studies show that medical students’ attitudes towards the undeserved tend to worsen significantly as they go through their medical education. This finding emphasizes the need for medical educators to implement activities such as service-learning that may help mitigate this negative trend.All students at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) School of Medicine are required to participate in longitudinal service-learning throughout medical school, and a majority of students interact with the underserved at their service-learning sites. Using the previously validated Medical Student Attitudes Towards the Underserved (MSATU), independent sample T-tests showed that students who interact with underserved populations at their sites scored with significantly better attitudes towards the underserved at the end of their preclinical phase. Subjects included 58 medical students with 100% taking the MSATU. This result indicates that longitudinal service-learning, particularly when it includes interaction with the underserved, can be one method to combat the worsening of medical students’ attitudes as they complete their medical education.

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Changing medical students’ attitudes about mental health

Medical Education ◽

10.1111/medu.12195 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 47 (5) ◽

pp. 534-534

Author(s):

Alexandre Pereira ◽

Henry Holanda

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Medical Students ◽

Students Attitudes

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A Theoretical Framework for the Development of Views of One’s Own Aging

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.017 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 6-6

Author(s):

Sarah Marrs ◽

Jennifer Inker ◽

Madeline McIntyre ◽

Leland Waters ◽

Tracey Gendron

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Medical Students ◽

Assisted Living ◽

Health Professions ◽

Theoretical Framework ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Mentoring Program ◽

Term Care ◽

Before And After ◽

Students Attitudes

Abstract Senior mentoring programs have been established that provide medical students exposure to a community-dwelling older adult mentor. The goal of these programs is to expose students to healthy older adults, increase knowledge of geriatrics, and prepare them to care for an aging population. However, even while participating in a senior mentoring program, health professions students still demonstrate some discriminatory language towards older adults (e.g., Gendron, Inker, & Welleford, 2018). In fact, research suggests ageist practices occur, intentionally or not, among all health professions and within assisted living and long-term care facilities (e.g., Bowling, 1999; Dobbs et al., 2008; Kane & Kane, 2005). There is reason to believe that how we feel about other older adults is a reflection of how we feel about ourselves as aging individuals. As part of an evaluation of a Senior Mentoring program, we found that students’ attitudes towards older adults were not significantly improved (t (92) = .38, p = .70). To further explore this, we collected subsequent qualitative data. Specifically, we asked students to respond to the open-ended prompt before and after completing their senior mentoring program: How do you feel about your own aging? Our findings have revealed just how complex students’ views towards aging and elderhood are, pointing to a need to develop a theoretical framework for how these views are formed. Thus, the results of this qualitative grounded theory study illustrate the stages of development medical students’ progress through as they come to accept themselves as aging humans.

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P87 Paradigms about the COVID-19 pandemic: knowledge, attitudes and practices from medical students

BJS Open ◽

10.1093/bjsopen/zrab032.086 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Eddy Lincango-Naranjo ◽

Paola Solis-Pazmino ◽

Eddy Lincango-Naranjo

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Online Survey ◽

National Curriculum ◽

Negative Attitude ◽

Front Line ◽

Macroeconomic Factors ◽

Attitudes And Practices ◽

And Behavior ◽

Knowledge Attitudes And Practices

Abstract Introduction As new coronavirus has spread globally, economic instability in healthcare systems has been significant. This reality is especially accentuated in Ecuador where, the shortage of healthcare workers combined with cultural and macroeconomic factors have led it to face the most aggressive outbreak in Latin America. In this context, the participation of medical students on the front line is indispensable. Appropriate training on COVID-19 is an urgent need that universities and health systems must guarantee. We aimed to describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices in Ecuadorian final year medical students in order to identify the knowledge gaps, perceptions and behavior patterns which could guide the desig3n of better medical education curricula regarding COVID-19. Methods This descriptive 33-item online survey conducted between April 6 to April 20 sent by email and by Facebook and WhatsApp. Results 309 students responded to the survey. 88% scored high (≥ 70% correct) for knowledge of the disease. The majority of students were pessimistic about possible government actions, which is reflected in the negative attitude towards the control of COVID19 in Ecuador and volunteering during the outbreak (77%, and 58% of the students, respectively). Moreover, 91% of students said they did not have adequate protective equipment or training in their health facilities. Conclusions Ecuador has a capable upcoming workforce that could benefit from an opportunity to strengthen, improve and advance their training in preparation for COVID-19. Creating a national curriculum may be one of the most effective ways for all students to be trained, while simultaneously focusing on the students’ most pressing concerns.

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