Undergraduate Medical Students Research Articles

Scoping review of barriers to mental health service utilization among medical students and residents

Background: Undergraduate medical students and resident doctors face high rates of anxiety, depression, and psychological distress. Despite these issues, their mental health service utilization is very low; this can be attributed to various structural and attitudinal factors. The current research aims to highlight such barriers to accessing mental health care and bridge the existing research gap. Methods: A literature search on barriers to mental health treatment for medical students was conducted involving PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases, along with bibliographic search, from inception till 30th April 2023 to identify relevant English records with full-text available. Studies not involving medical students or not assessing treatment barriers, and non-original papers were excluded. Results: Our comprehensive literature search yielded 12 articles. We identified six key themes concerning barriers to accessing mental health services: stigmatization, attitudinal barriers, confidentiality concerns, time constraints, lack of knowledge, and access to services. Discussion: Stigmatization was found to be a prominent barrier, while attitudinal barriers included beliefs that mental health problems are a sign of weakness and should be managed independently. Medical students and residents also worried about breaches in confidentiality affecting their interpersonal relationships and career prospects. Time constraints due to demanding academic and clinical responsibilities also posed challenges in seeking mental health care. These critical barriers to mental health service utilization among medical students and residents can be addressed through mental health awareness campaigns in college campuses, universal mental health screening in medical schools, providing internet-based services and collaborative programs with local mental health professionals to widen the treatment options.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Breakthrough Infections among Fully Vaccinated Undergraduate Medical Students at a Teaching Hospital in Puducherry

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Breakthrough Infections among Fully Vaccinated Undergraduate Medical Students at a Teaching Hospital in Puducherry

New Evidences About Multidimensionality of the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) Construct in Undergraduate Medical Students

New Evidences About Multidimensionality of the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) Construct in Undergraduate Medical Students

Evaluation of change in knowledge, attitude, and practice of medical students towards early childhood oral health following educational intervention

Medical health professionals have the opportunity to influence the oral health of children, as they are the first health professionals to come in contact with expectant mothers and parents of infants and toddlers. Aim: To evaluate and compare undergraduate medical students’ knowledge, attitude, and practice about early childhood oral health care before and after educational intervention. Methods: A cohort study was conducted among undergraduate medical students during their course. The baseline knowledge and attitude of 80 medical students were evaluated using a validated questionnaire (Phase I). Following, they completed 8 hours of educational intervention and their change in the knowledge and attitude was reassessed (Phase II). The intervention continued through web-based learning till they reached their residency. The students’ knowledge, attitude, and practice were again reassessed at the end of their residency (Phase III). Results: Knowledge: There was a significant increase in the knowledge about the term gum pads, from 70% in Phase I to 90% in Phase III. Only 30% of medical students knew that the oral cavity of a newborn was devoid of microorganisms during Phase I, but this knowledge improved to 86% in Phase III. Almost 58 to 90% of the medical students had a basic knowledge of the influence of high caries on mothers, the importance and benefit of antenatal counselling, and the effect of poor maternal health. In Phase I, although 92% were aware of the multifactorial pattern of dental caries, only 42% and 53% knew the causative organism and transmissibility of it from mother to child, respectively. Around 77% and 62% agreed that antenatal counselling and counselling on feeding and weaning, respectively, will prevent ECC. Attitude: The attitude towards treating primary teeth was less (66%) in Phase I, subsequently increasing to 100% at the end of Phase III. Practice: Following Phase III, most of them (88%) examined the child’s oral cavity during routine medical checkups in the Knee-to-Knee position (93%) and counted the number of teeth present (91%), and they were able to identify the dental carious teeth (88%). Conclusion: The medical curriculum should include a module on early childhood oral health.

Evaluation of student-led “Association for Support and Propagation of Innovation, Research, and Education” (A.S.P.I.R.E) in empowering undergraduate medical students in research: A 2-year longitudinal study

Evaluation of student-led “Association for Support and Propagation of Innovation, Research, and Education” (A.S.P.I.R.E) in empowering undergraduate medical students in research: A 2-year longitudinal study

Medical students perception of learning environment evidence from Jimma University Medical Centre

This study aims to assess medical students’ perception of the quality of the learning environment at Jimma University Medical Centre (JUMC), Ethiopia using the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM). A cross-sectional survey design was applied to assess students’ perceptions during their clinical attachment wards in JUMC. The DREEM inventory consisted of five sub-domains such as student perception of learning (SPL), student perception of teacher (SPT), student academic self-perception (SAP), student perception of the atmosphere (SPA), and student social self-perception (SSSP) that administered to 323 undergraduate medical students. Descriptive statistics, t-test and ANOVA were computed using SPSS 20 to analyse the data. The overall DREEM mean score was found to be 111.35 and SD of 13.67 from the maximum score of 200. In this study, the overall DREEM mean score of female was significantly higher than the mean of their male counterparts. Despite the ANOVA result across years, first year clinical year I students had higher perception of learning environment as compared to senior batches. In general, the overall means score of students on the DREEM scale revealed that they perceive the learning environment more positively. However, some areas need to be revised across all five domains of the learning environment to make improvements.

Gender awareness among the undergraduate medical students: A cross sectional study from Hyderabad, India.

Physician trainees need to have robust gender awareness for better professional relationships and patient outcomes. A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate (UG) medical students (MBBS) of a medical college in Hyderabad, India, in November 2022, to assess their gender sensitivity (GS) and gender-role ideologies. A pretested, structured English questionnaire was used for the study, to compute the Nijmegen Gender Awareness Scale in Medicine (N-GAMS) of the participants. The mean age of the students was 20.51 years, with the majority being women (112, 61.2%). The mean GS score was 3.11, while the mean scores for gender-role ideology towards patients (GRIP) and gender-role ideology towards doctors (GRID) were 2.56 and 2.56, respectively. In the adjusted analysis, a significantly better GS score was seen among medical students from urban backgrounds. Significantly more egalitarian GRIP was found among women, participants from urban backgrounds, and among those whose mothers were employed. Significantly more egalitarian GRID was found among women and participants whose mothers were employed. There was a significant negative, but low, correlation between the GS domain and the GRIP (r = - 0.241; p < 0.001) and GRID (r = - 0.192; p = 0.009) scores. There was a high, positive correlation between GRID and GRIP (r = 0.812; p < 0.001). Gender awareness is relatively low among Indian medical students and lower still among male students. It was higher among women, particularly among those whose mothers were employed and those who were from urban areas.

Implementation of Choosing Wisely in gynecology and obstetrics internship

INTRODUCTION: Throughout undergraduate school, it is important to instill a continuous emphasis on cost-conscious thinking across all specialties, including obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN). One potential strategy is the implementation of the Choosing Wisely (CW) Campaign. OBJECTIVE: To describe and assess the implementation strategies of the Choosing Wisely (CW) campaign within a medical internship in Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN). METHODS: This intervention study involved medical teachers and undergraduate medical students at a Brazilian medical school. Initially, teachers identified three common unnecessary clinical scenarios, which were then grouped and adapted to fit the CW recommendation format. Based on the five most frequently occurring recommendations, educational activities were developed, including workshops, banners, and discussions on cost-consciousness in healthcare with undergraduate students and medical doctors. RESULTS: The top five recommendations were as follows: 1. Don’t routinely order hormone levels for menopause diagnosis; 2. Don’t recommend ovarian removal during hysterectomy for premenopausal women without ovarian câncer risk; 3. Don’t prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics for uncomplicated acute cystitis treatment; 4. Don’t request preventive examinations for colpitis diagnosis; and 5. Don’t request unnecessary exams during low-risk prenatal care, such as kidney and liver function tests. The theoretical and practical components of these educational activities led to increased awareness and subsequent discussions among internship faculty and undergraduate students. CONCLUSION: Implementation of the CW campaign within the medical internship in OB/GYN resulted in a positive impact, fostering reflection among participants and aiding in the avoidance of unnecessary treatments or prescriptions.

Emotional Intelligence and Clinical Empathy among Medical Students: The Conditional Effects of Spirituality and Gender

Clinical empathy (CE) is a crucial component that influences how well patients respond to treatment. This necessitated the examination of the factors that promote CE among undergraduate medical students. Therefore, this study investigated the individual and combined conditional effects of spirituality (SS) and gender on the emotional intelligence (EI) – CE relationship. Participants were 202 undergraduate medical students who have had direct contact with patients. The sample comprises 86 males and 116 females with an average age of 22.52 years. Instruments with proven psychometric qualities were used to collect data on each variable. A regression-based analysis complemented by model 2 of Hayes’ PROCESS macro via the IBM-SPSS v25 was utilised for testing the hypotheses and developed model. The direct effect results indicated that EI and SS positively and significantly predicted CE. The moderating effect of SS on the EI-CE relationship was significant while that of gender was not. The combined moderating effects of SS and gender on the EI-CE link were significant and stronger for females with higher levels of SS. These findings led to the conclusion that EI, SS and gender are valuable mechanisms to consider when making policies to improve CE.

Assessment of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Under Graduate Medical Students

ABSTRACT: Assessing hearing loss in undergraduates is crucial to ensuring their academic success and overall well-being. Early detection and intervention can significantly improve educational outcomes and quality of life. Aims and objectives: To assess noise-induced hearing loss in undergraduate medical students And create awareness about the harms of earphones and stereo usage. Methodology: the data was collected using a pre-designed, pretested, semi-structured questionnaire, which included the frequency of earphone usage per day, duration of listening earphones, playing stereo at high volumes, and duration of stereo usage by simple random sampling.

Mapping Adult Vaccine Confidence in Future Health Professionals: A Pilot Study among Undergraduate Students at Two Universities in Greece.

Health professionals' recommendations increase vaccine uptake. We aimed to document stances, practices regarding adult vaccination, and their predictors among undergraduate medical and biomedical science students, as well as their perspectives on increasing vaccine confidence. Among the 430 participants, third-year students from two universities in Greece, only 25.4% were in favor of all vaccines, while no refuters were detected. Predictors of recommending vaccination were the Attitudes Towards Adult Vaccination (ATAVAC) Value (OR 3.26, p < 0.001) and ATAVAC Safety subscales scores (OR 1.36, p < 0.05), being a medical student (OR 2.45, p < 0.05), and having better self-rated health status (OR 2.27, p < 0.05). The importance of getting vaccinated as health professionals was recognized by participants with a higher ATAVAC value (OR 5.39, p < 0.001), ATAVAC Safety scores (OR 1.46, p < 0.05), and increased knowledge regarding the National Immunization Program (OR 1.31, p < 0.05). The God Locus of Health Control (GLHC) was a predictor only in vaccination against COVID-19 (OR 0.91, p < 0.05). Improving community health literacy and health providers' education, boosting trust in authorities, and adopting a person-centered approach emerged as the main themes regarding how to increase vaccine confidence. Mapping health professionals' confidence in vaccines and providing lifelong training support is pivotal in supporting positive attitudes, enhancing their competence, and promoting vaccination in the post-COVID-19 era.

Relationship between Past and Present Academic Performance among Undergraduate Medical Students of Bangladesh

Background: Education is one of the most essential factors in producing a human resource &amp; the academic performance becomes important since it is commonly used as a reflection of education. To find out the relationship between past and present academic performance among medical students of Bangladesh. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the relationship between past and present academic performances of the medical students of Bangladesh. A total of 436 student respondents participated in this study from eight purposively selected of Bangladesh those are located at Dhaka and outside Dhaka) from January to December 2022 using a pretested semi-structured self-administered questionnaire. Results: This study find that out of 436 medical students’ majority i. e. 416 (95.4%) students got GPA score 5 and very few i.e. 20 (4.5%) got GPA score &lt;5 in the Secondary School Certificate examination. In Higher School Certificate examination majority i.e. 386 (88.5%) students got GPA score 5 and 50 (11.5%) students got GPA score &lt;5. This study also find that out of 130 responses about the result of first MBBS Professional examination, most of them (92.3%) passed regularly and 7.6% passed irregularly. Out of 83 responses about the result of second MBBS Professional examination, most of them (96.3%) passed regularly and 3.6% passed irregularly. Out of 30 responses about the result of third MBBS Professional examination 100% passed regularly and no irregularly passed was found. In the fourth MBBS Professional examination 50% passed regularly. There was an inverse relationship between the combined scores of Secondary School Certificate examination and Higher School Certificate examination with the result of professional examinations. Conclusion: Academic performance at the secondary education or pre-university college level is generally considered the strongest indicator of academic merit in tertiary education. CME J 2024; 3(2); 16-19

Hybrid teaching after COVID-19: advantages, challenges and optimization strategies

BackgroundIn the post-pandemic era of higher education, hybrid teaching has emerged as a prevalent approach and is anticipated to persist as a defining trend in the future teaching reforms worldwide. However, despite its widespread adoption, certain limitations have become apparent. The objective of this study is to identify the genuine factors that impact students’ performance, explore strategies that teachers can employ to enhance their teaching effectiveness and enhance students’ academic self-efficacy.MethodsThe study was performed among undergraduate medical students enrolled in Physiology course at Harbin Medical University in 2020 and 2022. Since 2020, influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, a hybrid teaching method based on an established offline teaching model called BOPPPS was implemented. A questionnaire was performed in both 2020 and 2022 to evaluate students’ satisfaction and efficiency of our hybrid teaching. A comparison was also carried out on the final examination scores of students majoring in Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacy across the years 2020 to 2022.ResultsThe final examination scores of students in 2022 were significantly lower than those in 2020 and 2021 both in Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacy majors. There was also a decrease of the score in students of Clinical Pharmacy in 2021 compared to 2020. The questionnaire indicated that over half (52.0%) of the students in 2022 preferred offline teaching method, in contrast to 39.1% in 2020. There were obvious changes in students from 2020 to 2022 about the disadvantages of hybrid teaching, the improvement of students’ learning ability and the duration of students’ autonomous learning. Through cross statistical analysis, online learning styles, learning ability improvement and students’ learning burden have been identified as the primary factors influencing their preference for future teaching method.ConclusionsHybrid teaching is still a necessary trend in the future teaching reform base on its multiple advantages. However, in order to improve the teaching outcomes and foster students’ participation and learning initiatives, it is imperative to undertake additional reforms in the future teaching process.

Medical students experience in working in a public COVID-19 telehealth program: a descriptive study

BackgroundGiven the health and social needs generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Telehealth Network of Minas Gerais, Brazil, implemented a teleconsultation and telemonitoring program to assist patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, the TeleCOVID-MG program. The telemonitoring service was conducted by medical students, under the supervision of a physician. The main goal of this study was to analyze the experience of the students while collaborating on the aforementioned telemonitoring program.MethodsA questionnaire with 27 questions was developed to address the participation of the students in the telehealth program. The questionnaire included questions about the student’s profile, the system usability, and the satisfaction in participating in such a telehealth program. The questionnaire was generated on Google Forms® platform and sent via email to each student who was part of the telemonitoring team.ResultsSixty students were included in the analysis (median age 25 years-old [interquartile range 24–26], 70% women). Of those, 61.6% collaborated on the telehealth program for more than 6 months, 65.1% performed more than 100 telemonitoring calls, 95.2% reported difficulties in contacting the patient through phone calls; 60.3% believe some patients might have felt insecure about being approached by medical students and not by graduate professionals; and 39.6% reported eventual system instabilities. The main strengths reported by the students were related to the system usability and to the self-perception of the quality of healthcare delivered to the patients. Even though 68.3% of the students mentioned technical difficulties, 96.6% reported that they were promptly solved. Finally, 98.3% believed that the program was useful and would recommend it to an acquaintance.ConclusionThis study reports a successful experience of undergraduate medical students in a COVID-19 telemonitoring program. Overall, the medical students were satisfied with their participation, especially considering the continuity of clinical practice remotely during a period of classes suspension during the COVID-19 pandemic and their important role in the assistance of patients from low-income regions, which has minimized the health system burden in an emergency context.

Knowledge, and attitude of medical students about role of human papilloma virus, and vaccine in head and neck cancer

BackgroundPapilloma DNA virus which is most common sexually transmitted disease to both sexes. The infection either benign or malignant affecting head and neck region. Aim of the studyAssess the level of knowledge, and attitude, of medical students about Human Papilloma virus, vaccine, and its role in head and neck cancer development. Materials and methodsA descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted on 357 undergraduate medical students. Data were collected by online Google form researcher made questionnaires which was analyzed using SPSS 25. ResultsThere are 357 medical undergraduate students from different educational stages participated in this study. This study was shown 176 (49.3 %) of medical students agreed that smoking Tobacco are the most common causes for development oral cancer followed by viruses 98 (27.5 %), that 57.4 % of medical students reported that HPV was the main viral cause. As for the questions concerning HPV mode of transmission, almost (85.7 %) stated sexual transmission, (79.8 %) skin to skin direct contact. Most of the participants (92.2 %) agreed that primary prevention can decrease the risk of infection with HPV, and 43.4 % strongly agreed that vaccination plays an important role in HPV prevention. ConclusionsThere is a requirement within the existing curriculum and syllabus to include more education, seminars, and training courses on HPV, role in HNC, prevention, and vaccination, and mainly for students in the preclinical academic years. Application of a virtual classroom viral module or communicating workshop would likely improve knowledge and attitudes of the students for their future medical tasks.

Bodies and Bites: a medical school program that teaches anatomy, physiology, and nutrition to elementary school kids.

Undergraduate medical students who participate in community outreach programs gain a multitude of benefits that impact not only their professional development but also the well-being of the communities they serve. At the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM), students have the opportunity to volunteer in the "Bodies and Bites" program at the West End Center for Youth, an after-school educational center that serves K-12 children in Roanoke, Virginia. The purpose of Bodies and Bites is to teach elementary school children in 2nd to 5th grade how their bodies work and how to keep them healthy through good nutrition and exercise. All sessions are led by VTCSOM medical students and graduate students from our partnering academic institution, the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute (FBRI). Each week, the children and Health Professions students explore a different topic related to human anatomy and physiology using anatomical models, small group discussions, and hands-on activities. At the end of each session, the participants create a healthy snack related to the day's topic. The overall goal of the present study was to assess the perception of the Bodies and Bites program from the view of our student volunteers, and the 4th and 5th graders who attend the West End Center. Now in its 6th year, Bodies and Bites continues to be popular as a voluntary program among our Health Professions students, and is well received by the West End Center and the elementary school children they serve. Our students and community mutually benefit from this program, with the former having an opportunity to briefly disengage from the rigors of their studies while gaining valuable skills in science communication and inspiring children to pursue fields in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Medicine (STEMM), and the latter having fun while learning about their bodies and discovering ways to improve their health.

Stress and Burnout in Undergraduate Medical Students

Abstract not available J Dhaka Med Coll. 2022; 31(2) : 170-172

A summary of the main themes and findings presented at the ASM Intermountain Branch meeting (2024).

The annual meeting for the Intermountain Branch was held in April 2024 on the campus of Brigham Young University. There were 127 branch members from Utah, Idaho, and Nevada who attended the meeting and were composed of undergraduate students, graduate or medical students, and faculty. This report highlights the diversity of, and the emerging trends in, the research conducted by American Society for Microbiology members in the Intermountain Branch.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards E-learning among Medical Undergraduate Students in a Medical College of Maharashtra

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards E-learning among Medical Undergraduate Students in a Medical College of Maharashtra

Twenty-one Years of Undergraduate Medical Student Research Training at the University of the Free State (UFS), South Africa

Abstract Introduction Since 2001, undergraduate medical students at the University of the Free State (UFS), South Africa, plan, perform, and report on their research projects during semesters 2–5 of their ten-semester training. We describe the research modules and review the projects of the first 21 years. Methods This cohort study included all undergraduate medical student projects that formed part of the first 21 presentations of the research modules. Information was obtained from material archived by the module leaders. Students’ 2020 feedback on the modules was summarised. Results In total, 607 projects were planned (range 22–35 per year) and involved 229 supervisors. Only four projects were not completed. Thirty-nine Faculty departments/divisions/units provided supervision with Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Paediatrics and Child Health each supervising 60 or more groups. Projects were predominantly quantitative (99.7%); only 4.9% of projects involved an intervention or experiment. Main topics were infectious diseases (10.5%), mental health (8.9%), and cancer (8.7%). Data subjects were mainly patients (61.9%) and undergraduate students (12.0%), and data collection was mostly performed at the faculty’s training hospitals or laboratories (71.4%). The most positive aspect indicated by students was the exposure to and learning about research; the most negative aspects were group work and supervisors. Conclusion The projects received support from a broad spectrum of supervisors and covered a wide variety of topics. Given the timing of the projects in the training programme, the mainly quantitative and observational nature of the projects was appropriate. Attention to supervision and group work is required.