METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study which involved medical students in their final two years of study at a public university in Malaysia. Self-administered Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) and World Health Organisation QOL questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to assess their psychological symptoms and QOL.
RESULTS: A total 149 students participated. The prevalence rates of anxiety and depression were 33% and 11% respectively. Malay students had significantly more anxiety compared to the other ethnic groups, P<0.05. Female students had significantly lower psychological score compared to male; 70.73 vs 66.32(P<0.05). Anxiety and depression were associated with significantly poorer QOL. Students with depression symptoms were associated with lower physical, psychological and environmental domain score whereas those with anxiety had lower psychological, social and environmental scores, P<0.05. Overall QOL score was significantly lower in Chinese students (P<0.05) and those with depression (P<0.001).
CONCLUSION: QOL of medical students are significantly affected by the presence of anxiety and depression. It is recommended that medical schools implement measures which can identify students at risk and to offer comprehensive intervention and preventive programmes to improve the students' wellbeing.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among year 1 to year 5 medical students in a private medical university. A self-administered questionnaire was used with the 3 major domains of professionalism and ethics i.e. discipline plagiarism and cheating.
RESULTS: A total of 464 respondents responded to the survey and they included medical students from year 1 and year 2 (pre-clinical) and years 3-5 (clinical years). Majority of the students, 275 (59.2%) answered that they had not seen any form of unethical behavior among other students. The females seem to have a larger number 172(63%) among the same gender compared to the males. Majority 352 (75%) of them had not heard of the 'Code of Professional Conduct by the Malaysian Medical Council'. About fifty three (53.1%) of the students answered that the training was sufficient.
CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the perception of unethical behavior was 58.8% in the 1st year (pre-clinical) and it increased to 65.2% in the 5th year (clinical). The 3 main discipline issues were students do not show interest in class (mean 2.9/4), they are rude to other students (mean 2.8/4) and talking during class (mean 2.6/4). Despite the existence of unethical behavior among the students majority of them (71.7%) claimed that they had adequate training in ethics and professionalism. It is proposed that not only the teaching of ethics and professionalism be reviewed but an assessment strategy be introduced to strengthen the importance of professionalism and ethics.
Objectives: The study was conducted to assess whole-grain intake pattern and factors influencing intake among Malaysian medical students.
Methods: A cross-sectional study investigating whole-grain intake among 151 medical students in a private medical university in Malaysia was conducted from January to June 2018. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess sociodemographic variables, the whole-grain intake pattern and the knowledge and attitudes toward whole-grain intake. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS software. Chi-square test and multivariable logistic regression were used.
Results: The prevalence of reported whole-grain intake in the past 3 months was 51%. Chinese ethnicity, readiness to adhere to Malaysian food pyramid, and self-preparation of food, and eating at home were significantly associated with whole-grain consumption. However, the primary determinants of food choice such as education, knowledge, and affordability did not seem to influence whole-grain consumption. Whole-grain consumption is relatively low among Malaysian medical students. Cultural background and self-belief influence this practice despite being from the medical fraternity.
Conclusions: Efforts are needed to bridge the knowledge-practice gap by assessing the barriers to whole-grain consumption to design effective initiatives to promote an increase in whole-grain consumption.
AIMS: To explore changes in students' attitudes to psychiatry and career preference for psychiatry during the course of their senior clinical years at RCSI & UCD Malaysia Campus (RUMC).
METHODS: All year 3 students (n = 111) at RUMC were invited to complete the Attitudes towards Psychiatry questionnaire (ATP-30) and a separate questionnaire seeking opinions on career preferences. The questionnaires were administered at 3 points in time: in year 3 before the 8-week psychiatry posting, following completion of the posting in year 4, and at the end of year 5. Quantitative data analysis was performed using SPSS version 18, and free-text responses were thematically analysed.
RESULTS: One hundred completed questionnaires (90.1%) were returned. There was a significant improvement in students' ATP scores after their psychiatry rotation and this was sustained into year 5. Psychiatry as a career choice had highest preference levels following completion of the clerkship but declined in year 5 to below pre-clerkship preference levels. Qualitative analysis of factors influencing a career in psychiatry revealed themes of job satisfaction, lifestyle factors, perceived image of psychiatry, and self-appraisal.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that an enriched undergraduate clinical clerkship experience can help to sustain improved attitudes to psychiatry into the final medical year. However, declining interest in the specialty a career choice prior to graduation presents an enduring challenge.
METHODS: Country-wise aggregate data from the Global Health Professions Student Survey on 'current cigarette smoking' (smoking cigarettes on 1 or more days during the past 30 days), and 'current use of tobacco products other than cigarettes' (chewing tobacco, snuff, bidis, cigars or pipes, 1 or more days during the past 30 days) were analysed. For each WHO region, we estimated mean prevalence rates of tobacco use weighted by the population of the sampling frame and aggregate proportions for 'health professionals' role' and 'cessation training' indicators using 'metaprop' command on Stata V.11.
RESULTS: A total of 107 527 student health professionals participated in 236 surveys done in four health profession disciplines spanning 70 countries with response rates ranging from 40% to 100%. Overall, prevalence of smoking was highest in European countries (20% medical and 40% dental students) and the Americas (13% pharmacy to 23% dental students). Other tobacco use was higher in eastern Mediterranean (10%-23%) and European countries (7%-13%). In most WHO regions, ≥70% of the students agreed that health professionals are role models, and have a role in advising about smoking cessation to their patients and the public. Only ≤33% of all student health professionals in most WHO regions (except 80% dental students in the Eastern Mediterranean region) had received formal training on smoking cessation approaches and ≥80% of all students agreed that they should receive formal cessation training.
CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco control should take place together with medical educators to discourage tobacco use among student health professionals and implement an integrated smoking cessation training into health professions' curricula.