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Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Canadian medical students: a cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:While the importance of medical students' demographic characteristics in influencing the scope and location of their future practice is recognized, these data are not systematically collected in Canada. This study aimed to characterize and compare the demographics of Canadian medical students with the Canadian population. METHODS:Through an online survey, delivered in 2018, medical students at 14 English-speaking Canadian medical schools provided their age, sex, gender identity, ethnicity, educational background, and rurality of the area they grew up in. Respondents also provided information on parental income, occupation, and education as markers of socioeconomic status. Data were compared to the 2016 Canadian Census. RESULTS:A total of 1388 students responded to the survey, representing a response rate of 16.6%. Most respondents identified as women (63.1%) and were born after 1989 (82.1%). Respondents were less likely, compared to the Canadian Census population, to identify as black (1.7% vs 6.4%) (P?$100,000/year, compared to 32.4% of Canadians). Assessment of non-response bias showed that our sample was representative of all students at English-speaking Canadian medical schools with respect to age, though a higher proportion of respondents were female. Additionally, there were no differences between early and late respondents with respect to ethnicity, rurality, and parental income, occupation, and education. CONCLUSIONS:Canadian medical students have different socioeconomic characteristics compared to the Canadian population. Collecting and analyzing these characteristics can inform evidence-based admissions policies.

SUBMITTER: Khan R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7216658 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Canadian medical students: a cross-sectional study.

Khan Rishad R Apramian Tavis T Kang Joel Hosung JH Gustafson Jeffrey J Sibbald Shannon S

BMC medical education 20200512 1

<h4>Background</h4>While the importance of medical students' demographic characteristics in influencing the scope and location of their future practice is recognized, these data are not systematically collected in Canada. This study aimed to characterize and compare the demographics of Canadian medical students with the Canadian population.<h4>Methods</h4>Through an online survey, delivered in 2018, medical students at 14 English-speaking Canadian medical schools provided their age, sex, gender ...[more]

PMID: 32397987

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Medical education is widely known to be a demanding process that may cause various mental health problems, such as burnout, which can lead to lowered levels of life satisfaction among medical students. Research shows that empathy is negatively correlated with burnout, but there are few studies on the relationship among empathy, burnout and life satisfaction in medical students. The objective of the present study is to explore the correlations of empathy and burnout with life satisfaction and the associated socio-demographic factors among Chinese undergraduate medical students. METHODS:In this cross-sectional study, 1271 undergraduate medical students (age 19.42 ± 1.34 years, 36% male) from 1st to 4th grades completed questionnaires including the Interpersonal Reactivity Index Chinese version (IRI-C), the Maslach Burnout Inventory Modified Chinese version (MBI-MC), the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) and socio-demographic characteristics. Statistical analyses included Student's t-test, one-way ANOVA, post hoc Bonferroni tests, hierarchical linear regression analysis and general linear model-univariate full factorial model. RESULTS:Over four academic years, medical students' empathy levels declined, but their burnout levels almost plateaued and their life satisfaction levels witnessed an initial fall before a rebound. Empathy was correlated with students' age and grade, and burnout was associated with students' maternal education. Significant differences in life satisfaction were detected with regard to medical students' age, academic year, the number of children in the family, place of residence and parents' educational levels. CONCLUSIONS:Empathy explained 0.6% of the variance in life satisfaction in contrast to 13.7% of the variance explained by burnout in life satisfaction. Although empathy did not have a main effect on life satisfaction, there was an interaction effect of empathy and burnout on life satisfaction among students of high and low empathy and burnout levels. Students with high levels of empathy and low levels of burnout were most satisfied with life. Medical institutions and related authorities need to find effective measures to enhance students' empathy levels and reduce burnout to improve their life satisfaction.

Project description:BackgroundWhile substance use is common among medical students, there is limited research on this topic involving Canadian medical students or exploring its associations with professional outcomes. The present study examines the association between Canadian medical students' substance use and related counselling attitudes and practices, career satisfaction, academic/clinical workload, and the medical school environment.MethodsWe sent an electronic cross-sectional survey to students attending all 17 Canadian medical schools between November 2015 and March 2016. A total of 4,438 participants completed the survey across four years of study, with a participation rate of 40.2%. We considered four categories of substance use: cannabis, alcohol, non-medical use of prescription stimulants (NPS), and cigarettes. Covariates included professional attitudes (e.g., career satisfaction, distress, patient counselling on alcohol or smoking cessation), specialty of interest, learner mistreatment, and perceived medical school support. We used multivariate logistic regression models, generating adjusted odds ratios (AORs), to examine covariates associated with substance use and how substance use (as a covariate) was associated with different professional outcomes.ResultsIndividuals more interested in "lifestyle" specialties (AOR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.08-3.05) and surgical specialties (AOR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.16-2.47) were more likely to report excessive alcohol use. Those interested in primary care were more likely to report cannabis use in the past 12 months (AOR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.14-3.00). We did not identify significant associations between specialty of interest and current cigarette or NPS use in the past 12 months. However, excessive alcohol use was associated with greater career satisfaction (AOR, 1.24; 95% CI: 1.04-1.49), whereas NPS in the past 12 months was associated with poorer career satisfaction (AOR, 0.63; 95% CI: 0.42-0.93). In addition, there was a negative association between NPS use and the ability to handle workloads due to physical (AOR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.18-0.54) or mental health issues (AOR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.30-0.71), but not for other substances. We also found significant negative associations between current cigarette use and the perceived relevance of smoking cessation counselling (AOR, 0.48; 95% CI: 0.29-0.80) and alcohol cessation counselling (AOR, 0.42; 95% CI: 0.25-0.70).ConclusionsThese findings suggest that specific patterns of substance use in medical students appeared to be significantly associated with some professional outcomes, specialty of interest, and attitudes towards addiction-related clinical practice. Encouraging medical students to practise healthy habits, including minimizing harmful substance use behaviours, could be an important target for improving medical students' health and their patient care.

Project description:ObjectiveTo determine the level of knowledge concerning Sudden Unexpected Death in the Young (SUDY) among Canadian medical students and recent graduates (≤5 years after graduating).DesignA cross-sectional study was conducted by distributing a standardised, multiple choice, online questionnaire which assessed basic knowledge of SUDY.SettingCanadian medical schools and residency training programmes.Participants614 Canadian medical students (in either their penultimate or final year) and recent graduates (≤5 years after graduating) completed an anonymous online questionnaire.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe level of knowledge regarding molecular aetiology, clinical presentation, pharmacological management and modes of inheritance of six of the commonest conditions causing SUDY, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), Brugada syndrome, catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), long QT syndrome (LQT) and Wolff-Parkinson White syndrome (WPW), were compared between medical students and recent graduates. Questions were broken down into basic knowledge and advanced categories and analysed as a secondary outcome measure.ResultsOf 614 responses, approximately two-thirds were answered by recent graduates, who generally scored 10% higher on all subject categories than medical students. Overall, questions regarding HCM were best answered (40%), followed by WPW syndrome (32%), CPVT (30%), ARVC (23%), Brugada syndrome (21%) and LQT syndrome (17%). Questions categorised as basic knowledge were answered 30% and 39% correctly in medical student and recent graduate groups, respectively, and those in the advanced category were answered 20% and 25% correctly.ConclusionsSurvey respondents fared poorly when answering questions regarding SUDY, which may be a reflection of inadequate medical education regarding these disorders. Standardised teaching regarding SUDY needs to occupy a stronger focus in Canadian medical curricula in order to prevent more unnecessary deaths by these syndromes in the future.

Project description:ObjectivesThe wide variety of operations that a plastic surgeon can deal with creates confusion regarding its proper scope. This confusion was observed in primary physicians as well as medical students. Increasing the perception of medical students toward plastic surgery can aid in career decision-making and early referral patterns. The aim of this study is to gauge a holistic overview of how medical students and interns perceive the plastic and aesthetic surgical specialty in King Faisal University and to suggest a recommended plan.MethodsAn online questionnaire was distributed equally to male and female medical students and interns in a local medical institute. The questionnaire constituted three sections; the first included the biographical data. The second is concerned with the different case scenarios and specialties to be chosen. The third is concerned with the previous clinical exposures. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 21. Between comparison, chi-square tests, Mann-Whitney U-test, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied. Normality tests were conducted using the Shapiro-Wilk's test.ResultsTwo hundred ninety-two students and interns have participated and completed the questionnaire. There were 189 males and 103 females. Plastic surgery was most commonly chosen in the following case scenarios; burn of the hand (74%), broken nose (64.7%), and cosmetic nose reshaping (80.8%). However, plastic surgery was infrequently chosen (selected by <30% of students) in many areas of hands and peripheral neuropathies (severed finger extensor tendon (26.4%), fractured scaphoid (12.7%), carpal tunnel syndrome (14.4%), brachial plexus injury (16.1%)). The most common source of information was the social media, and the least one is meeting with doctors and professors.ConclusionMedical students and interns lack a full view of plastic and reconstructive surgery, especially in hand and peripheral neuropathies. Improving the education of medical students and interns is recommended and needed.

Dataset Information

Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Canadian medical students: a cross-sectional study.

Publications

Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Canadian medical students: a cross-sectional study.

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