JAMA and Medical Students—Reply

To evaluate the knowledge of basic life support (BLS) among students and health providers in Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, and Allied Health Science Colleges at Qassim University. A cross sectional study was performed using an online BLS survey that was completed by 139 individuals. Ninety-three responders were medical students, 7 were medical interns, 6 were dental students, 7 were pharmacy students, 11 were medical science students and 15 were clinical practitioners. No responder scored 100% on the BLS survey. Only two out of the 139 responders (1.4%) scored 90-99%. Both of these individuals were fifth year medical students. Six responders (4.3%) scored 80-89%. Of these, 5 were fifth year medical students, and one was fourth-year medical student. Eleven responders (7.9%) scored 70-79%. Of these, eight were fifth year medical students, two were medical interns and one was a pharmacist. Twenty-three responders (16.5%) scored 60-69%. Of these, 11 were fifth year medical students, 1 was a fourth-year medical student, 3 were medical interns, 2 were medical science students, 1 was a dentistry student, and 5 were pharmacists. Twenty-eight responders (20.1%) scored 50-59%. Of these, 11 were fifth year medical students, 3 were fourth-year medical students, 1 was a third-year medical student, 1 was a second-year medical student, 2 were first-year medical students, 1 was a pharmacy student, 3 were dental students, 1 was a allied health science student, 2 were doctors, and 3 were pharmacists. The remaining 69 responders (49.6%) scored less than 50%. Knowledge of BLS among medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and allied health science students and health providers at Qassim University is poor and needs to be improved. We suggest that inclusion of a BLS course in the undergraduate curriculum with regular reassessment would increase awareness and application of this valuable life-saving skill set.

Background This study was conducted to compare the effect of stress on headache in medical and nonmedical students. Method In this study, comparisons were made between 200 medical students of S.N.M.C, Agra and 200 non-medical students of Agra College, Agra, aged between 18–21 years, from 1 January 2017 till 30 June 2018. Perceived stress scale was used to determine the prevalence of stress among medical and non-medical students. On the basis of frequency of occurrence of headache, it was categorized as daily, weekly and infrequent. Results Moderate and high perceived levels of stress were found to be more common in medical students as compared to non-medical students and the result was found to be statistically significant (p <0.0001) Daily and weekly headaches were commoner in medical students, whereas, infrequent headache was more common in non-medical students and there was statistically significant difference among both groups (p <0.0001). Among medical students, daily and weekly headaches were more commonly found in high perceived level of stress and infrequent headache was more common in low level of stress and statistically significant difference was found between headache and level of stress among medical students (p <0.0001). Among non-medical students, daily and weekly headaches were common in high perceived level of stress and infrequent headache was also more common in low level of stress and statistically significant difference was found between headache and level of stress among non-medical students (p <0.0001). Conclusion Among the medical students, 48% (96) had infrequent headache, 43.5% (87) had weekly episode of headache and 8.5% (17) had daily headache. While among non-medical students 64% (128) had infrequent headache, 35% (70) had weekly episode of headache and 1% (2) had daily headache which was a statistically significant. Stress headaches are more common among the medical students

ObjectiveThis article explores the value of hosting a grassroots neuroscience workshop that facilitates near-peer engagement between year-one medical students and local Brain Bee finalists (high school students). Near-peer mentoring is a formal relationship in which more academically advanced students guide immediate junior students. We hypothesized that similar activities have teaching, learning, and psychosocial benefits for all and can be easily replicated.ActivityThe Grenada National Brain Bee Challenge was launched in 2009 as a competition for high school students. Annually, there are at least 100 high school students registering to participate in the national challenge. In 2018, a grassroots neuroscience symposium, a local initiative, was created to prepare high school students who participated in the preliminary rounds for the final local and International Brain Bee competition. Traditionally, it is hosted annually by faculty at St. George's University School of Medicine (SOM). However, in 2022, the symposium was hosted by medical students. The symposium is designed as an eight-hour tutorial one-day session. The students rotate between facilitators as small group teams during each teaching hour. There are icebreakers, content presentations, and neuroanatomy skills stations. The medical students demonstrate expertise in neuroscience content and other aspects of professional competence. The activity was also designed to offer students of diversified backgrounds the opportunity to affect their educational pathways through role modeling, mirroring, and mentorship. Was this change beneficial to both sets of students (medical and high school)?Results and discussionWe aim to determine the value of the near-peer relationship between the local 2022 Brain Bee finalists (high school students) (n=28) and university (medical) students (n=11). Participants were surveyed about their experience. Data were de-identified and grouped according to common themes. A thematic analysis was conducted on the data retrieved from the literature review. Data suggest that both high school and university (medical) students report benefits after participating in near-peer engagement at a grassroots neuroscience symposium. In this teaching model, the medical students are the more experienced instructors and transfer their knowledge and skills about the field to the high school students. The medical students have an opportunity to consolidate their personal learning and give back to the Grenadian community. While informal teaching occurs often, this type of near-peer engagement with students from the community helps medical students develop both personal and professional skills such as confidence, knowledge, and respect. This grassroots initiative is easily replicated in a medical curriculum. The major benefits experienced by the high school student participants (of various socioeconomic backgrounds) were access to educational resources. The symposium requires active engagement, fosters a sense of belonging, and promotes interest in pursuing careers in health, research, academia, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).ConclusionParticipating high school students of various genders and socioeconomic backgrounds gained equal access to educational resources and may select careers in health-related sciences. Participating medical students developed knowledge and teaching skills and engaged in a service-learning opportunity.

Global medical missions deliver essential health care services to equity-seeking communities, and particularly in the Global South. While medical missions can improve access to care, they also raise ethical concerns, such as reinforcing dependencies on Global North countries and undermining local health systems. Many medical missions are heavily reliant on volunteers from Global North countries. A well-studied volunteer group are medical students, with some studies raising questions about their readiness to support care delivery in such contexts. As less well considered group are pre-medical students enrolled at colleges and universities in Global North countries who do not yet have any formal medical training. This study comparatively explored the motivations of medical and pre-medical students from the Global North seeking to participate in medical mission trips to Ghana. We analyzed 100 publicly available crowdfunding campaign narratives from the GoFundMe platform. Campaigns posted between 2018 and 2023 were first identified through a structured search using terms related to medical missions and Ghana, and those meeting predefined inclusion criteria were retained. After identifying 147 eligible campaigns, we manually screened all pages and then randomly selected (n = 50) medical student and (n = 50) pre-medical student campaigns to ensure equal representation. Comparative thematic analysis was employed to identify and compare motivations between medical and pre-medical students. Both medical and pre-medical students were motivated to participate by a blend of factors that included a desire to make a positive impact in Ghanaian communities. Pre-medical students were particularly motivated by the prospect of enhancing their medical school applications, while medical students aimed to meet medical school course requirements and gain practical clinical experience. Pre-medical students expressed greater interest in participating in social or development projects while in Ghana in addition to delivering health care and were more likely to express religious motivations than were medical students. The findings raise important ethical and equity concerns for medical mission host countries such as Ghana, such as the appropriateness of the scope of practice for pre-medical students in particular, the quality and sustainability of care and the inclusion of faith-based activities. The analysis points out that understanding the diverse motivations of both medical and pre-medical students from the Global North can support more ethical and effective medical mission practices, including informing guidelines for volunteers and the different pathways for their communication between these groups.

Introduction: Prescription is a clinician’s written order to dispense drugs. Prescription writing is one of the basic competencies to be learned by medical and dental students, who are more prone to make prescription errors during the early stages of their training. Methods: It was a cross sectional study conducted in NMCTH, Jorpati, Kathmandu. Medical and dental students in the first and second year were included in the study. Students were given common clinical conditions to write prescriptions. Prescriptions were analyzed for physician and drug related components. Results: The total number of medical and dental students that participated in this study was 326. The percentage of different physician related components in the prescriptions of first year medical students ranged from 61.4 to 100%, from 74.1 to 100% in second year medical students, from 55 to 100% in first year dental students and from 66.7 to 100% in second year dental students. The percentage of different drug related components of prescriptions was from 73.7% to 90% in first year medical students, from 79.3 to 94.8% in second year medical students, from 57.5 to 80% in first year dental students and from 74.1 to 92.6% in second year dental students. Conclusion: Prescription writing skills of preclinical medical and dental students are lacking in its various components. Evaluation of their prescription writing skill should be done frequently to find out the deficiencies which must be corrected by better training to reduce prescription errors and to increase adherence to improve rational prescribing.

Background: Self-medication is quite a prevalent public health problem. It can cause serious harm to the person, like adverse drug reactions, toxicity, drug resistance, incomplete cure, drug dependence, etc. Self-medication is associated with incorrect self-diagnosis and inadequate treatment, which can result in disease progression and complications. The primary purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and pattern of self-medication practice among undergraduate medical and pharmacy students. Methodology: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the College of Medicine and College of Pharmacy. The pre-tested, structured questionnaire was used. All medical and pharmacy students were invited to participate in the study by filling in an online study questionnaire. The study questionnaire consists of three parts. The first part includes personal and health status. The second part is related to the past year’s most frequent conditions participants had self-medication. Participants were also asked about their self-medication knowledge and perception. An electronic survey link was sent out via email. Statistical analysis was performed in SPSS 25 software. Results: Self-Medication is more prevalent among medical students (70.59 %) than among pharmacy students (62.3%). The most important condition was a cough, 83% among medical students and 67% of pharmacy students, and a sore throat, 47.1% of medical students and 44.2% of pharmacy students. The most frequent medication used among medical and pharmacy students was analgesic (paracetamol and NSAIDS). Antibiotics (41% medical and 33% pharmacy students) and Vitamin supplements were next utilized. Pharmacy students used more supplements than medical Students (33.8 percent pharmacy versus 13% medical) Conclusion: Self-medication has been found to be very common among medical and pharmacy students in Oman. The student-ts need to be educated about the harms of self-medication and the responsible use of medicine.

Introduction: Medical and dental care are largely siloed, making it difficult for these culturally, financially, and educationally different health care professionals to work together to provide comprehensive care. Engaging dentists in HPV-related prevention activities may be a meaningful strategy to reduce HPV-related morbidity and mortality. Therefore, effective prevention strategies coupled with systems-level strategies could improve interprofessional approaches in HPV prevention. We sought to assess HPV health literacy and intended HPV vaccination recommendation and communication practices among future health care providers. Methods: A 31-item survey for dental students and 25-item survey for medical students assessing HPV and HPV vaccine knowledge, willingness to administer HPV vaccines, self-efficacy in engaging in preventive efforts, and basic demographics was administered to students from a southeast School of Dental Medicine and School of Medicine. Surveys were administered in Spring 2018 for dental students (N=109) and Spring 2019 for medical students (N=105). Results: Dental students’ sample was 61% female, mean age of 25.79 (SD=3.31), 61% white, 48% 1st year and 52% 3rd year. Medical students’ sample was 51% female, mean age of 25.18 (SD=3.31), 58% white, 71% 1st year and 29% 2nd-4th year. Among our sample, 62% of dental students self-reported receiving the HPV vaccine (30% completion rate) and 56% of medical self-reported being vaccinated (22% completion rate). The majority (67%) of dental and medical students did not know most HPV infections clear up on their own within 2 years and that HPV-related OPC is higher among men as compared to women (66% of dental; 78% of medical students). In regards to vaccine knowledge, 54% of dental students were not aware of the recommended 2-dose administration and 45% of medical students were not aware of vaccine recommendations for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, transgender people, and for immunocompromised persons. When asked about perceived self-efficacy in engaging in HPV preventive efforts, 42% of dental students anticipated having an uncomfortable conversation with patients when recommending the HPV vaccine, 43% did not feel confident in performing oral cancer exams, 56% did not feel confident in recommending the HPV vaccine, and 66% did not feel confident in talking about HPV risk factors. Among medical students, 27% anticipated having an uncomfortable conversation with patients when recommending the HPV vaccine, 29% did not feel confident in recommending the HPV vaccine, and 37% did not feel confident in talking to patients about HPV risk factors. Final analysis will be presented at conference. Conclusion: This study can improve our preliminary understanding of interprofessional training opportunities for effective systems-level strategies to improve bidirectional access and communication across oral health and primary care to engage in effective HPV prevention across professions. Citation Format: Essie Torres, Alice Richman, Wanda Wright, David Eldridge, Luan Lawson. Evaluating medical and dental students’ human papillomavirus-related cancer knowledge and perceived self-efficacy in HPV vaccine communication and recommendation practices [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr D028.

Background: Vapes and e-cigarettes are portable devices that heat a nicotine-containing fluid to produce inhalable emissions. Their use has grown significantly and teenagers who vape risk nicotine addiction and impaired brain development. Objective: To assess the rise of vaping culture and exploring the trends and dynamics of e cigarette use among medical and non- medical students. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey that targeted 222 students from reputable institutions across Punjab using a convenient sampling technique. The data collection tool was pre-tested structured questionnaire that assessed the participant's familiarity with the trends of e-cigarette in their respective colleges. We analyze the data using chi-square test for bivariate associations. P-value of &lt;0.05 was considered statistically significant Results: Among the 222 respondents, most of the participants were male students who were familiar with the use and risk of vaping. The most common reason of vaping was peer pressure in both medical and non students. Majority of medical students reported no impact of vape on their academic performance whereas increased absenteeism was reported among non medical students. The survey suggests that medical students all over Punjab are generally aware about vaping and its risks however non medical students should be educated more about the severity and impact of e-cigarette use Conclusion: The study shows distinct disparities in e- cigarette and vape behaviors between medical and non-medical students. Medical students demonstrate more awareness of health risks, lower smoking prevalence, and minimal academic disruption from vaping. In contrast, non-medical students exhibit higher smoking rates and significant academic challenges such as increased absenteeism.

Previous studies in the world reported inconsistent results about the relationship of medical professional education with medical students' smoking behaviors, and no similar research had been published in China. This paper aims to explore whether the differences of smoking-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors existed between medical and non-medical undergraduate students. Eight thousand one hundred thirty-eight undergraduate students sampled from a university in Guangzhou were investigated with a self-administered structured questionnaire about their smoking-related knowledge, attitude and behaviors, and other relevant factors. General linear model and multinomial logistic regression were conducted to test the differences in smoking-related knowledge, attitude, and behaviors between medical and non-medical students while controlling for potential confounding variables. There was no difference in smoking-related knowledge scores between medical and non-medical freshmen, but medical sophomores and juniors had higher scores of smoking-related knowledge than their non-medical counterparts. The medical sophomores had higher mean score of attitudes towards smoking than non-medical ones. Before entering university, the difference in the prevalence of experimental and regular smoking between medical and non-medical college students was not significant. After entering university, in contrast, the overall prevalence of regular smoking was significantly higher among male non-medical college students than among male medical students. Stratified by current academic year, this difference was significant only among male sophomores. Medical students have higher smoking-related knowledge, stronger anti-smoking attitude, and lower prevalence of regular smoking than non-medical college students of similar age, which may be associated with medical professional education.

Background: Headache is a painful condition related to a major lack of productivity, limitation of social activities and impairment of quality of life.Method: in this study a structured questionnaire was formulated in a form of multiple choices questions to gather information on the clinical characteristics, associated factors and the triggering factors along with the mode of treatment adopted by dental and medical undergraduate students of the University of Baghdad in the period from January to March 2019. Language of questionnaire was made simple and easily understandable to students. Students were assured of confidentiality and the participation was entirely voluntary.Results: in this study a total number of 340 students participated, 170 of them were medical students 76(44.7%) males and 94(55.3%) females, and the other 170 were dental students 45(26%) males and 125(74%) females .It was found that 170 medical students had 161 associated symptoms with headache , the most common associated symptoms was scalp tenderness 44(25.9%), while the least common associated symptom was diarrhea 4(2.4%).While 170 dental students had 162 associated symptoms, the most common associated symptoms was scalp tenderness 46 (27.2%), while the least common associated symptom was seizures 2 (1.2%). 170 medical students expressed 385 triggering factors for causation of headache. It was found that the most common triggering factors was irregular sleep 118(69.4%). And 170 dental students expressed 437 triggering factors for causation of headache. It was found that the most common triggering factors was stress 136 (80.5%). In this study the percentage of medical students who taking self medications was 88.82% and 92.35% for dental students also it was found that both medical & dental students had the highest percentage for using Paracetamol as analgesic, 119(70%) for medical students, and 126(74.6%) for dental students.Conclusions: the results of this study show that the majority of both medical and dental students suffer from headache with self medications used by the majority.

Decisions to forgo life-sustaining medical treatments in terminally ill patients are challenging, but ones that all doctors must face. Few studies have evaluated the impact of medical training on medical students' attitudes towards end-of-life decisions and none have compared them with an age-matched group of non-medical students. To assess the effect of medical education on medical students' attitudes towards end-of-life decisions in acutely ill patients. Cross-sectional study. Four hundred and two students at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Completion of a questionnaire focused on end-of-life decisions. The number of students who felt that cardiopulmonary resuscitation must always be provided was higher in non-medical students (76/90 (84%)) and medical students with less training (67/84 (80%) in year 1 vs. 18/67 (27%) in year 5) (p < 0.001). Discontinuing life-support therapy was more accepted among senior medical students compared to junior medical and non-medical students (27/66 (41%) in year 5 vs. 18/83 (22%) in year 1 and 20/90 (22%) in non-medical students) (p = 0.003). An unexpectedly large proportion of non-medical students (57/89 (64%)) and year 1 medical students (42/84 (50%)) found it acceptable to administer fatal doses of drugs to patients with limited prognosis. Euthanasia was less accepted with more years of training (p < 0.001). When making decisions regarding limitation of life-support therapy, students chose to involve patients (98%), doctors (92%) and families (73%) but few chose to involve nurses (38%). Medical students' attitudes towards end-of-life decisions changed during medical training and differed significantly from those of non-medical students.

ObjectivesAssessing medical students’ attitudes toward patient-centred care is essential to bettering medical education. Based on doctor-patient relationships and the medical system in China, it is important to explore the impact of gender differences and other background factors on patient-centred attitudes and to provide references for medical education reform.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on fourth-year medical undergraduate students from November 2017 to March 2018 in Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China. The Chinese-revised Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (CR-PPOS), which has been validated in previous research, was used to measure the medical students’ attitudes. The medical students’ demographic data was collected, including their gender, age, information on whether they have siblings, family residence location, doctor(s) for parents, year in which the student first experienced clinical practice, and student category.ResultsA total of 513 students (91.12%) completed the survey. The Chinese medical students scored considerably higher for ‘Caring’ (including patients’ preferences into the decision-making process) than for ‘Sharing’ (sharing information/responsibility with patients). These students tended to have patient-centred attitudes, as measured by an average overall CR-PPOS score of 3.63 (scores higher than 3.5 indicate patient-centred attitudes), which is higher than Malian (3.38) and Pakistani (3.40) medical students but lower than American (4.57) and Brazilian (4.66) students. Female students (P < 0.05) were significantly associated with more patient-centred attitudes and with higher ‘Sharing’ and ‘Caring’ subscale scores. Student category (P < 0.05) was associated with ‘Sharing’ and ‘Caring’ scores. Clinical hospital students (P < 0.05) were associated with more patient-centred attitudes and with higher ‘Sharing’ and ‘Caring’ subscale scores, Students without siblings (p < 0.07) were associated with the higher ‘Sharing’ subscale scores.ConclusionsIn China, gender has a significant impact on medical students’ patient-centred attitudes, which is similar to findings from other countries. If medical schools want to raise patient-centred attitudes across the board and bridge the gap between male and female patient-centred attitudes, gender, student category, and other factors should be incorporated into medical education.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted mental health worldwide, especially among healthcare professionals, including medical students, who were more exposed to pandemic-related stressors. However, health anxiety within this vulnerable group remains understudied.ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess and compare health anxiety and COVID-19 anxiety between medical and non-medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify factors associated with these forms of anxiety.MethodsThis cross-sectional study recruited Iranian medical and non-medical students studying in Mashhad via convenience sampling using messaging apps. Participants completed a self-reported questionnaire on demographic and social factors, along with the Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI) and the Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS), with higher scores reflecting greater symptom severity. Statistical analyses evaluated group differences, correlations between HAI and CDAS scores, and the influence of confounding variables.ResultsA total of 305 students participated, with 176 medical students (57.7%) and 129 non-medical students (42.3%). The majority (92.7%) reported mild COVID-19 anxiety, while 3.2% reported moderate and 0.98% reported severe COVID-19 anxiety. COVID-19 anxiety did not significantly differ between medical and non-medical students (P = 0.439). However, medical students reported significantly higher fear of illness consequences than non-medical students (P = 0.037), while no significant differences were found in susceptibility to disease (P = 0.299) or general health concern (P = 0.156). HAI and CDAS scores were significantly correlated (r = 0.30, P < 0.001). Based on logistic regression, Female gender (OR = 4.55, P = 0.002) was associated with susceptibility to health anxiety, while studying a non-medical major was associated with lower health anxiety (OR = 0.01, P < 0.001) and lower COVID-19 anxiety (OR = 0.05, P < 0.001).ConclusionMild COVID-19 anxiety was prevalent among both medical and non-medical students, with comparable levels of health anxiety across the groups. These findings suggest the need for targeted mental health support among students during pandemic conditions.

Want to Promote Long-Term Care? Consider Teaching It

BackgroundObsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a debilitating mental health condition characterized by recurrent, intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors that significantly disrupt daily life. Medical students may be uniquely susceptible to obsessive compulsive symptoms due to their constant exposure to potential contaminants and infectious diseases during their training. Obsessive Compulsive symptoms among medical students are often overlooked, which can significantly impact their academic performance, well-being, and future career prospects. The prevalence and factors of obsessive compulsive symptom is not widely studied in low and middle income countries and there are limited studies in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of obsessive compulsive symptoms among medical students.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study conducted among 370 students. The outcome variable was assessed using the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised scale (OCI-R). The collected data were entered using kobo collect tool box version 1.3 and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Bivariable and multivariable logistic analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with Obsessive Compulsive symptoms and variables with P-values less than 0.05 were considered to have significant association with 95% confidence interval.ResultThe probable prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder among medical and health science students was 28% with (95% CI: 26.4–32.7). Being female [AOR = 1.33(95%CI: 1.09, 2.18)], Depressive symptoms [AOR = 2.12(95%CI: 1.95, 4.06)], Maladaptive coping mechanism [AOR = 1.74 (95%CI: 1.23, 2.50)], and Poor sleep quality [(AOR = 1.48(95%CI: 1.08, 2.24)] were significantly associated with obsessive compulsive symptoms.ConclusionObsessive Compulsive Symptom has a high probable prevalence among medical and health science students. Being female, experiencing depressive symptoms, employing maladaptive coping mechanisms, and having poor sleep quality were significantly associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Therefore, early detection, screening, and appropriate intervention for obsessive-compulsive symptoms in medical students are crucial.