Medical students' views on training in intellectual disabilities.
OBJECTIVE
To examine undergraduate medical training in the field of intellectual disabilities (ID) from the perspective of clinical clerks.


METHODS
Cross-sectional self-administered survey.


METHODS
Clerkship rotations at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont, and the University of Toronto in Ontario in 2006.


METHODS
A total of 196 upper-year undergraduate medical students (clerks).


METHODS
Contact with people with ID, training in the field of ID, perceptions of current training in ID, and views on ways to improve the curriculum in the area of ID.


RESULTS
Most students (85.6%) had received some didactic and clinical training in managing patients with ID,but most of these (93.3%) believed that curriculum enhancements, especially more contact with patients with ID and more time in the curriculum for training in care of people with ID, were necessary.


CONCLUSIONS
This study found that the curriculum enhancements long recommended by experts in the field of ID were also desired by clinical clerks. This finding adds considerable weight to the recommendation that improvements in training in ID should be incorporated into undergraduate medical education programs.
Burge
Philip
P
Queen's University, c/o Ongwanada, 191 Portsmouth Ave, Kingston, ON K7M 8A6. burgep@queensu.ca
Ouellette-Kuntz
Hélène
H
Isaacs
Barry
B
Lunsky
Yona
Y
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002321:Career Choice; D002648:Child; D002982:Clinical Clerkship / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009864:Ontario; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*