FEED US NUTRITION - FINAL YEAR MEDICAL-STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS OF NUTRITION MEDICAL-EDUCATION

Background: Nutrition is recognised as an integral aspect of Australia n medical education. Since medical students will learn more of a subje ct they consider important; there is a need for their perceptions of n utrition io be investigated. Aims: To identify final year medical stud ents' perceptions about nutrition and its inclusion in their medical c ourse, and to compare priority nutrition topics identified with those previously identified by Faculty and General Practitioners (GPs) who t each in the undergraduate curriculum. Methods: A cross-sectional surve y of all final year medical students attending the University of Newca stle mas conducted, using a distributed questionnaire, comprising thre e sections, demographics, perceptions about nutrition and its inclusio n in the medical courser and a listing of 35 major nutrition topics, M ain outcome measures were: interest in nutrition, and whether it shoul d be included in the undergraduate medical curriculum; rated importanc e of listed nutrition topics; comparison between students and Faculty and GPs. Frequency distributions and Chi square analyses were used to compare group responses. Results: Seventy-one per cent of the students were interested in nutrition and 94% believed it should be included i n the medical curriculum. More than 60% of the students nominated 21 o f the 38 topics essential or important. Thirteen of these topics were also highly rated by Faculty and GPs, although Faculty and GPs rated m ore topics as essential or important. Conclusions: Newcastle medical s tudents are interested in nutrition and believe it should be included in their medical curriculum This may be due to their clinical exposure and the educational milieu of the University of Newcastle Medical Sch ool. Exposure to nutrition in their undergraduate education appears to be an important determinant for priority designated nutrition topics.