Medical student attitudes toward the medically underserved: the USU perspective

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Public Health
• Sociology of Health

Background:

• Medical schools aim to train physicians committed to serving diverse patient populations.
• Understanding medical student attitudes toward underserved populations is crucial for addressing health disparities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the attitudes of medical students at the Uniformed Services University toward providing medical care to underserved populations.
• To examine changes in these attitudes throughout the medical school curriculum.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the validated Medical Student Attitudes Toward the Underserved (MSATU) survey.
• Employed repeated measures analysis of variance to analyze changes in MSATU scores over time.
• Collected data from a cohort of students at entry (Year 1) and near graduation (Year 4).

Main Results:

• Student attitudes toward caring for underserved populations were less favorable compared to limited national data upon entry.
• Attitudes significantly declined over the four years of medical school (Year 1 Mean MSATU: 46.2; Year 4 Mean MSATU: 41.7, p < 0.01).
• Potential influencing factors include medical school debt, prior exposure to underserved populations, and the definition of "service" within military contexts.

Conclusions:

• Medical education may inadvertently decrease commitment to serving underserved populations.
• Curricular interventions, such as service-learning opportunities, could enhance student engagement with and attitudes toward underserved communities.
• Strengthening the social contract between medical institutions and the communities they serve is essential.