Knowledge gap of peripheral artery disease starts in medical school

Previous data suggest that physicians have suboptimal knowledge about peripheral artery disease (PAD). Our aim was to evaluate Canadian medical students' knowledge of PAD to determine if this knowledge gap exists early in medical training.

We conducted a descriptive, cross-sectional, interview-based study of graduating medical students at the University of Toronto. We used a standardized questionnaire to evaluate students' knowledge of PAD and coronary artery disease (CAD) in the following domains: clinical presentation, risk factors, preventative measures, treatment, and complications. We calculated mean (standard deviation [SD]) scores for each CAD and PAD knowledge domain and examined for differences in PAD vs CAD scores.

Seventy-two graduating medical students participated in this study, of which females accounted for 58%. Nearly all participants reported being exposed to PAD (89%) and CAD (92%) through their medical school curriculum. Overall, medical students scored better in identifying CAD characteristics (mean [SD] score, 16.4 [2.7]) compared with PAD (mean [SD] score, 14.6 [3.2]) (P < .0001). This difference was driven by the inferior performance of students in identifying risk factors (P < .0001), preventative measures (P = .049), and complications (P < .0001) of PAD compared with CAD. Out-of-class exposure (eg, clinical rotation, research experience) had a positive impact on students knowledge of both PAD and CAD.

Our results demonstrate suboptimal knowledge of medical graduates of both CAD and PAD. Although they share common atherosclerotic risk factors and cardiovascular complications, medical students were less likely to associate these with PAD than CAD. We recommend a comprehensive module that incorporates all presentations of atherosclerotic disorders to enhance students' understanding of these pathologies in medical schools.