Medical Students' Knowledge and Attitudes TowardsUniversal Access to Healthcare (UHC) Systems

Aim With the introduction of universal access to healthcare central to health policy in Ireland, this study aims to examine the attitudes of medical students to the implementation of such policy. Methods A cross sectional study of final year students on the MB degree programme at UCD School of Medicine was conducted. Students were asked to indicate the extent with which they agreed / disagreed with several statements using a Likert-scale (where 1=strongly disagree and 5=strongly agree). Results A total of 98(42%) of the 236 final year students completed the survey. The statements with which respondents most agreed were: "the GP's workload would increase" and "a UHC system is preferable to one in which only some patients have free access to certain services" (mean 4.3, SD 0.85 and mean 3.85, SD 1.05, respectively). The statements with which students most disagreed were: "it would be straightforward to introduce such a system in the practice(s) in which I have been on placement" and "under a UHC model, patients would receive quicker care" (mean 2.14, SD 0.91 and mean 2.29, SD 1.09 respectively). Conclusion The findings suggest that medical students are positively disposed to the introduction of UHC but have concerns regarding workload.