Personal health promotion at US medical schools: a quantitative study and qualitative description of deans' and students' perceptions

Erica Frank,Joan Hedgecock,Lisa K Elon

doi:10.1186/1472-6920-4-29

Erica Frank, Joan Hedgecock + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-4-29

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Abstract

BackgroundPrior literature has shown that physicians with healthy personal habits are more likely to encourage patients to adopt similar habits. However, despite the possibility that promoting medical student health might therefore efficiently improve patient outcomes, no one has studied whether such promotion happens in medical school. We therefore wished to describe both typical and outstanding personal health promotion environments experienced by students in U.S. medical schools.MethodsWe collected information through four different modalities: a literature review, written surveys of medical school deans and students, student and dean focus groups, and site visits at and interviews with medical schools with reportedly outstanding student health promotion programs.ResultsWe found strong correlations between deans' and students' perceptions of their schools' health promotion environments, including consistent support of the idea of schools' encouraging healthy student behaviors, with less consistent follow-through by schools on this concept. Though students seemed to have thought little about the relationships between their own personal and clinical health promotion practices, deans felt strongly that faculty members should model healthy behaviors.ConclusionsDeans' support of the relationship between physicians' personal and clinical health practices, and concern about their institutions' acting on this relationship augurs well for the role of student health promotion in the future of medical education. Deans seem to understand their students' health environment, and believe it could and should be improved; if this is acted on, it could create important positive changes in medical education and in disease prevention.

Highlights

Prior literature has shown that physicians with healthy personal habits are more likely to encourage patients to adopt similar habits
Survey of Deans and medical students Most surveyed Deans reported that their schools generally support students' health, though fewer Deans believe that their school encourages healthy eating (Table 1)
Some trends may be emerging, such as students' health practices being good in some spheres [2], but not being maintained in medical school [3] and residency [4,5], with an increase in alcohol consumption, and a decrease in socialization and exercise[6]

Summary

Introduction

Prior literature has shown that physicians with healthy personal habits are more likely to encourage patients to adopt similar habits. Despite the possibility that promoting medical student health might efficiently improve patient outcomes, no one has studied whether such promotion happens in medical school. We wished to describe both typical and outstanding personal health promotion environments experienced by students in U.S medical schools. Our purpose was to describe both typical and outstanding personal health promotion environments experienced by medical students in U.S medical schools. Our interest in health promotion among medical students was based on compelling data showing that physicians who have healthy personal habits are more likely to encourage patients to adopt related habits [1]. BMC Medical Education 2004, 4:29 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/4/29 clear possibility that promoting medical student health should be an innovative, efficient, and effective way to improve patient outcomes, no one has examined the extent to which Deans or students believe that this concept is enacted in medical school

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