Browsing by Subject "medical students"
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Item CHANGING HEALTH BEHAVIORS IN FIRST YEAR MEDICAL STUDENTS: A PRE- AND POST- ANALYSIS(2014-03) Stone, Chelsea K.; Trammell, Randall H.; Smith, Michael L.; Fulda, KimberlyPurpose (a): First year medical students begin their classroom studies with ideals of providing healthcare while exemplifying the healthy habits they wish to impart to their patients. The reality is that this high pressure educational environment followed by 3-8 years of post-doctoral training has great potential to lead students down the path of poor health behaviors. Ample research supports a correlation between high stress situations and declining self-care behaviors. A trending cause of concern is the recent surge in energy drink consumption. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate first year medical students’ health habits, their perception of stress and its relationship with energy drink consumption. We hypothesize that first year medical students energy drink consumption is associated with less positive health behaviors upon reassessment during medical school. Methods (b): This study involved administration of two surveys to the incoming class of UNTHSC Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. The pre-survey, distributed during orientation week, was completed by 221 first year medical students. Subjects were recruited with a brief oral speech provided by the principal investigator informing them that their participation was voluntary. Near the conclusion of the first semester, the survey was re-administered and 123 students completed the survey. Comparative analyses included only those subjects who completed both the pre and post surveys (n=123), consisting of 58 males and 65 females ranging from ages 21-41 with a mean age of 24+3 years. Frequency analysis were run on each of the variable categories based on the ranges listed on the survey. A dependent samples T-test was used to compare the Perceived Stress Scale between pre and post surveys. Nonparametric McNemar Tests were used to compare pre and post variables of typical hours per sleep in a 24- hour day, days per week exercised and whether the subject consumed energy drinks within the past month. An alpha of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results (c): The Perceived Stress Scale increased from a mean score of 12.9+5.8 to 18.2+6.5 (p<0.01). The pre-test report of sleep duration was 26.8% slept ≤ 6 hours and 73.2% slept 7 hours or more. The post- test indicated a significant decrease (p<0.01) in sleep with 53.7% sleeping 6 hours or less and 46.3% sleeping 7 hours or more. Similarly, with the pre-test, 36.9% reported exercising less than 2 days per week, 44.3% 3-4 times per week, 16.4% 5-6 times per week and 2.5% 7 days per week, and these rates shifted to 61.9% reported exercising less than 2 days per week, 27.4% 3-4 days per week, 8.8% 5-6 days per week and 1.8% 7 days per week. Finally, energy drink consumption increased from 29.3% at pre-test to 40.7% in the post-test analysis (p< 0.01). Conclusions (d): Subject responses regarding the changes in health behaviors during the first semester of medical school show significant differences when compared to the data gathered before the semester began. Decreased sleep and exercise, as well as an increase in perceived stress and energy drink consumption support our hypothesis that increased energy drink consumption is associated with less positive health behaviors.Item Integrating Public Health and Informatics into Undergraduate Medical Education: Utilization of an Innovative Bioterrorism Awareness Training Module(2003-08-01) Lippolis, L. CharoletteLippolis, L. Charolette, Integrating Public Health and Informatics into Undergraduate Medical Education: Utilization of an Innovative Bioterrorism Awareness Training Module. Master of Public Health (Dual-Degree, DO/MPH), August 2003, 19 pp., 5 tables, references, 15 titles. On October 4, 2001, the first case of inhalation anthrax in U.S. history due to an intentional human act was diagnosed; convincing even the most skeptical American that bioterrorism is a real and present threat in this country. Despite its emergence as an important medical and public health issue, a serious deficit in bioterrorism preparedness training has been recognized throughout the medical community, particularly in undergraduate medical education. In the face of the established need for bioterrorism awareness training, an overriding issue facing medical educators is how to incorporate more information into already over-packed curricula. The sheer volume of medical knowledge is becoming too vast to be taught by “traditional methods”. Integration of multiple subject areas, using a variety of presentation formats, is the key to providing medical students with the breadth and depth of skills and knowledge necessary to become competent physicians in the 21st century. This paper describes a unique adaptable, bioterrorism awareness training module designed for preclinical medical students that is inexpensive and will easily integrate into a wide variety of existing curricula. This course serves not only to educate students about bioterrorism and weapons of mass destruction, but in addition will increase their understanding of the Public Health system and disease reporting requirements, while providing experience in utilizing on-line resources for knowledge acquisition. The format for this course is based upon educational data derived from two different bioterrorism preparedness training modules presented to the first year osteopathic medical students in the academic years 2001-02 and 2002-03.Item Prior Osteopathic Palpatory Training and the Effectiveness of Clinical Breast Exams(2007-05-01) Bah, Elizabeth L.; John LicciardoneBah, Elizabeth L., Prior Osteopathic Palpatory Training and the Effectiveness of Clinical Breast Exams. Master of Science in Clinical Research and Education, May 2007, 57 pp, 9 tables, 10 illustrations, 28 bibliography titles. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether there is an association between osteopathic palpatory training and increased effectiveness of clinical breast exams. Incoming first year medical students, completed second year medical students, and physician assistant students participated in this study. These students palpated six silicone breast models with lumps of varying sizes, depths and hardness. Effectiveness was measured by mean sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value. The results of this study showed that there was no significant difference in effectiveness between the three student groups. The outcome of this project did not show an association between osteopathic palpatory training and increased effectiveness of clinical breast exams.Item The impact of circadian misalignment on health and wellness in medical students(2020-05) Roig, Christopher A.; Roane, Brandy M.; Cunningham, J. Thomas; Gwirtz, Patricia A.Circadian misalignment, or "social jetlag" refers to a mismatch between the internal circadian clock and external timings (e.g. societal timings) and behaviorally manifests as inappropriately timed sleep/wake cycles or misalignment of sleep patterns with meal timings. Previous literature shows circadian misalignment to contribute to a large number of adverse health outcomes including metabolic changes and disorders, mood disturbance, and decreased daytime functioning. A number of the adverse health outcomes of circadian misalignment, such as depression, suicidality, and burnout are all common within the medical student population. Medical students also tend to exhibit behaviors which promote circadian misalignment, such as staying up late to study, pulling all-nighters for exams, and sleeping in on weekends. Despite these links, very little literature exists regarding the prevalence, manifestations, and effects of circadian misalignment on medical students. This study identifies key behaviors related to circadian misalignment in medical students, as well as identifying negative outcomes associated with these behaviors.