title: Healthcare reform and the next generation: United States medical student attitudes toward the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Over one year after passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), legislators, healthcare experts, physicians, and the general public continue to debate the implications of the law and its repeal. The PPACA will have a significant impact on future physicians, yet medical student perspectives on the legislation have not been well documented.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate medical students' understanding of and attitudes toward healthcare reform and the PPACA including issues of quality, access and cost.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous electronic survey was sent to medical students at 10 medical schools (total of 6982 students) between October-December 2010, with 1232 students responding and a response rate of 18%.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical students' views and attitudes regarding the PPACA and related topics, measured with Likert scale and open response items.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of medical students surveyed, 94.8% agreed that the existing United States healthcare system needs to be reformed, 31.4% believed the PPACA will improve healthcare quality, while 20.9% disagreed and almost half (47.7%) were unsure if quality will be improved. Two thirds (67.6%) believed that the PPACA will increase access, 6.5% disagreed and the remaining 25.9% were unsure. With regard to containing healthcare costs, 45.4% of participants indicated that they are unsure if the provisions of the PPACA will do so. Overall, 80.1% of respondents indicated that they support the PPACA, and 78.3% also indicated that they did not feel that reform efforts had gone far enough. A majority of respondents (58.8%) opposed repeal of the PPACA, while 15.0% supported repeal, and 26.1% were undecided.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The overwhelming majority of medical students recognized healthcare reform is needed and expressed support for the PPACA but echoed concerns about whether it will address issues of quality or cost containment.
authors.affiliation: New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kristin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Huntoon
authors.forename: Colin J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: McCluney
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Scannell
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Wiley
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bruno
authors.forename: Allen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gorman
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D032882:Comprehension; D003363:Cost Control; D003625:Data Collection; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States