Disclosures: Nicole B. Katz, BS: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest
Objective: To assess undergraduate students’ knowledge, interest, and access to Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R). The secondary objective was to determine the impact of educational materials on these variables.
Design: A cross-sectional descriptive design with convenience sampling was used. Study aims, anonymity, and confidentiality of responses were stated before the survey. Passive consent was obtained.
Setting : The survey was distributed using Survey Monkey. Anonymous responses were collected. Communication with participants occurred via the Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) medical student council email.
Participants : Initial survey participants included 249 North American undergraduate students subscribed to premedical mailing lists.
Interventions: An initial survey collected data assessing undergraduate PM&R knowledge, interest, access, and career expectations. Students received information, videos, and an AAP infographic detailing the breadth of PM&R. A follow-up Institutional Review Board approved survey was then sent to assess changes in the same categories.
Main Outcome Measures: Survey responses pre- and post-educational resources were compared using t-tests. Differences in responses between subgroups were compared using t-test and logistic regression.
Results: From the initial survey, 76.7% reported intention to pursue medical school. The majority (81.1%) were unfamiliar with PM&R, but 95.5% were interested in learning more. Additionally, 99.2% of students expect to provide services for people with disabilities during their career. After educational materials were sent to students, the secondary survey revealed 55.3% were interested in learning more about PM&R through websites (66.1%) and online didactics (49.6%). The secondary survey also showed 61.7% of participants expressed interest in shadowing a PM&R physician. Conclusions: Undergraduate students have little knowledge of PM&R but report high interest in learning more. There is an opportunity for PM&R institutions to increase undergraduate knowledge of PM&R. This can be achieved through websites, online didactics, and mentorship.
Level of Evidence: Level V
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Katz NB, Pittard H, Byrne CJ, Wiesenberger L, Chitneni A, Kasi R, Jones EA, Grewal HK. Improving Undergraduate Awareness and Interest in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation [abstract]. PM R. 2020; 12(S1)(suppl 1). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/improving-undergraduate-awareness-and-interest-in-physical-medicine-and-rehabilitation/. Accessed November 21, 2024.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2020
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/improving-undergraduate-awareness-and-interest-in-physical-medicine-and-rehabilitation/