Matriculants' compliance with a required preventive health program.
Several organizations have made recommendations about medical students' health. To determine the University of South Florida College of Medicine's concurrence with published guidelines, a prospective analytic study of the 1990 entering class was carried out, using the 1989 class as a control. Enforcement measures not present in 1989 were initiated in 1990. The requirements for the 1990 matriculants were a history and physical examination; tuberculin testing; immunizations to rubella, rubeola, tetanus-diphtheria, and hepatitis B; status of immunity to chickenpox; and proof of health insurance. The results showed that in 1990 expensive requirements had the lowest rates of compliance, and inexpensive ones, the highest rates of compliance. Comparing 1990 with 1989 showed that the enforcement measures significantly improved compliance for expensive requirements, and for requirements that obligated a student to incur a fee because they needed to be updated. The authors conclude that cost is a major deterrent to compliance and that, in order to improve compliance, medical schools must either implement effective enforcement measures or transfer the cost from the student to the institution.
Herold
A H
AH
Department of Family Medicine, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa 33612-3799.
Roetzheim
R G
RG
Pamies
R J
RJ
Woodard
L J
LJ
Van Durme
D J
DJ
Manning
R
R
D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000191:economics*; D013337:Students, Medical