Impact of a week-long rehabilitation medicine posting on third-year medical students’ rehabilitation knowledge and attitudes

Abstract

Rising rates of disability have increased the need for rehabilitation. In Singapore, like many countries, a shortage of Rehabilitation Medicine Physicians exists. Knowledge and awareness of rehabilitation principles, concepts and work are often poor. One reason could be inadequate exposure or teaching during undergraduate medical school. Since 2016, third-year undergraduate medical students from Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (YLLSoM), Singapore, had been given a mandatory structured one-week Rehabilitation Medicine posting at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Rehabilitation Medicine Department. This paper aims to study the impact of a week-long rehabilitation medicine posting on third-year medical students’ rehabilitation knowledge and attitudes. The students were administered a Multiple-Choice Questionnaire (MCQ) before commencement and after completion of the week-long rehabilitation medicine program. Correct responses to the questionnaire were only discussed at the completion of the course. The students were posed additional personal response questions following the course. This is a retrospective study of the responses to the MCQ and post-course personal response questions. There were 72 out of 78 completed questionnaires. Only 67% were aware that Rehabilitation Medicine exists as a specialty prior to commencement of the program. After going through the course, 98.6% had improved MCQ scores, with a 23.2% gain in mean score at post-course testing. Following course completion, all the students were in agreement that Rehabilitation Medicine merits recognition as a clinical specialty. And 76.4% would consider Rehabilitation Medicine as a career. Having a structured and standardized Rehabilitation Medicine Posting in undergraduate medical curriculum does improve the knowledge and awareness of the Rehabilitation Medicine discipline amongst the medical students. Given the rising relevance of rehabilitation in current and future medical practice, due consideration should be given to making the topic a significant component in Singapore's undergraduate medical education.