Medical students' attitudes towards cancer: influence of the type of clerkship experience.
Attitudes of third-year medical students relative to patients with cancer were assessed prior to and following three different 6-week pediatric clerkships. Clerkship I (N = 139) was conducted in a public hospital where student contact with all patients occurred in wards, supervised by pediatricians in all subspecialties. Clerkship II (N = 146) was in a pediatric hospital which is a cancer center. Contact with patients with cancer was directed by oncologists and nononcologists. Clerkship III (N = 31) was similar to II, with an exposure to an oncology ward. A 51-item instrument, employing a visual analog scale, which included general, adult, and pediatric items, was used (pre- & postclerkship) to evaluate attitudes in all 316 students and 49 faculty instructors associated with the clerkships. Factor analysis of student responses to pediatric items resulted in four factors: a) early diagnosis, b) aggressive therapy, c) long-range surveillance, and d) psychosocial support in reference to patients with cancer. Post-test differences between clerkship groups in items a and b were noted, with increasing positivity correlated with increased exposure to oncology and oncologists. Attitudes of faculty nononcologists differed significantly from those of oncologists irrespective of institutional affiliation.
Hays
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DM
Division of Pediatric Surgery, Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, CA 90054-0700.
Hoffman
K I
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Williams
K O
KO
Siegel
S E
SE
Miller
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R
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002982:Clinical Clerkship; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000523:psychology; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006782:Hospitals, Special; D006801:Humans; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000193:education; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*