title: Medical student participation in a disaster seminar and drill: brief description of activity and report of student experiences.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although it is a Joint Commission requirement for hospitals to maintain an up-to-date disaster plan and to implement drills, disaster training is not routinely incorporated into undergraduate medical education.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objectives are to provide medical students with an introduction to disaster medicine, involving didactics and an experiential component where students participated in a disaster drill, and to evaluate the seminar's effectiveness through scored evaluations and a focus group discussion.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive and qualitative analysis of a medical student disaster training course is presented.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean score for the four statements pertaining to the didactics was 4.3/5. Two themes from the focus group discussions emerged: (a) changes in self-perceived attitude toward disaster medicine and (b) changes in student's ability to apply this knowledge in a simulated setting.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After the seminar, students appreciated the complexity of the field and the importance of incorporating disaster training into the general medical school curriculum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Amy H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Kaji
authors.forename: Wendy C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Coates
authors.forename: Cha-Chi
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Fung
mesh_terms: D054597:Disaster Medicine / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011361:Professional Competence; D013337:Students, Medical; D014481:United States