PTH-143 Medical students’ perception of undergraduate hepatology teaching in the UK – a national survey

Abstract

Introduction Exposure to and teaching of clinical Hepatology during training at UK medical schools is anecdotally limited. Due to rising mortality rates, addressing liver disease has been identified as a national clinical priority and raises the question of whether Hepatology teaching on undergraduate curriculums is adequate for the increasing demand. To date, there has been no evaluation of the undergraduate Hepatology curriculum. The aim of this study was to assess final year UK medical students’ attitudes towards their current hepatology curriculum and their confidence of knowledge regarding hepatology-related clinical conditions. Methods 31 UK medical schools were approached to partake in this study. 10 medical schools gave permission to distribute our 9-question online questionnaire to their students. Responses were collected over ten weeks following two rounds of local advertising. Ethical permission was obtained from the Medical Education Ethics Committee, Reference MEEC1617–45. Results 123 responses were obtained from 10 UK based universities. The undergraduate medical education in Hepatology was rated as poor or unsatisfactory by 47.2% of respondents. 67.5% of participants strongly agreed or agreed that the inclusion of a Hepatology rotation would be useful to students and should be in the curriculum. Completing an additional component, such as student selected module, in hepatology was associated with higher confidence levels in key hepatology-related conditions. Conclusions This is the first study to look at medical students’ perception of clinical Hepatology teaching in the undergraduate curriculum. High levels of inadequacy associated with the current teaching suggest the need for a revised curriculum. There is potential to increase Hepatology exposure to students through optional modules and a mandatory Hepatology rotation, to improve confidence levels and equip students for the future challenges with liver disease.