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Perception of Dermatology and Dermatologists Among Medical Students
Laine LUDRIKSONE, Jörg TITTELBACH and Peter ELSNER
Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Jena, Erfurter Str. 35, DE-07740 Jena, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]
Accepted Sep 18, 2018; E-published Sep 18, 2018
A recent population-based study in Germany reported that
82% of the general adult population had consulted a der-
matologist in the past, with 25% having a dermatological
problem requiring treatment (1). This highlights the high
prevalence of dermatological disorders and, consequently,
the importance for all medical graduates to develop basic
knowledge of dermatological conditions regardless of the
medical field in which they are planning to specialize.
Nevertheless, in the ranking of diseases based on their
importance and, consequently, the prestige of medical spe-
cialities, dermatology is frequently ranked one of the lowest
specialities (2). The factors contributing to this perception
are unknown. As the career decisions of medical students
are influenced by their attitudes towards medical specialities
(3), we aimed to assess how medical students perceive der-
matology and whether a perception-shift would be observed
following a dermatology training module.
METHODS AND RESULTS
SHORT COMMUNICATION
The results on perception of skin diseases, dermatologists, der-
matology curriculum by medical students at baseline and follow-up
are summarized in Figs 1, 2, S1 and S2 1 .
The highest agreement at baseline and follow-up was observed
for: (i) skin diseases being frequent, mentally burdensome and
disfiguring; (ii) dermatologists primarily treating with topical
products, frequently performing cosmetic procedures and having a
varied work compared with other specialities; (iii) dermatologists
having a high level of expertise for skin diseases in general, atopic
dermatitis/psoriasis and skin cancer; (iv) examination-relevant
knowledge, diagnostic tools in dermatology and treatment options
for skin diseases being important aspects for the students.
In contrast, the highest disagreement at baseline and follow-up
was observed for: (i) skin diseases being contagious, incurable and
socially caused; (ii) dermatologists primarily treating surgically,
having a high status among physicians of other specialities and
having much more time for their patients compared with physicians
of other specialities; (iii) dermatologists having a high level of
expertise for male infertility, proctology and mucous membrane
diseases; (iv) information on starting a dermatology practice,
support concerning job search and international relations in
dermatology being important aspects for the students. No overall
significant shift of the perception of dermatology/dermatologists
was observed following training in dermatology.
The study was conducted from April through July 2017 at the
University Hospital of Jena, Jena, Germany. All 4 th -year medical
students undertaking their 12-week dermatology training module
DISCUSSION
were asked to complete a questionnaire on the first day of the curri-
The overall greatest agreement concerning skin diseases
culum (baseline) and again at the end of the curriculum (follow-up).
Participation was voluntary. To ensure confidentiality, no identify-
was shown for the statement “skin diseases are frequent”,
ing information was collected. The dermatology training module
with further increase following the training module. The
consisted of a lecture series and 2 half-day small-group bedside
2 nd and 3 rd most frequently associated aspects with skin
teaching sessions in the dermatology wards and outpatient clinics.
diseases were the mental burden and the disfigurement they
The questionnaire consisted of 70 items, with the majority ra-
may cause. Nevertheless, the majority of students tend to
ted on a 5-point Likert scale – strongly agree, moderately agree,
neutral, moderately disagree, and strongly disagree. The following
categorize dermatological conditions as harmless. This con-
topics were covered: (i) perception of skin disorders; (ii) attitude
towards dermatologists; (iii) students’ view on the dermatological
curriculum. The questions were partially derived from a recent sur-
https://www.medicaljournals.se/acta/content/abstract/10.2340/00015555-3047
vey on the perception of dermatology
by the general population (1).
Skin diseases are...
-80%
-60%
-40%
-20%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Statistical analyses were carried out
...frequent 1
1.7 6.6
34.8
56.9
©
1.3
using IBM SPSS software, Version
*2
22.9
72.9
0.4 2.5
...harmless 1
0.2
40.9
40.3
2.8
14.4
20. Non-parametric tests were used to
Strongly
2
0.3
45.7
31.5
4.7
15.5
disagree
compare baseline and follow-up dif-
...disfiguring 1
0.3
31.5
29.8
18.2
17.7
Disagree
ferences. The significance level for all
*2
0.1 9.0 25.2
41.5
23.5
...chronic
1
29.3
43.1
18.8
8.8
Neutral
statistical testing was set as p ≤ 0.05.
2
0.9 6.8
36.3
41.9
14.1
A total of 182 of 260 students
...contagious 1
9.9
30.9
6.1 1.1
51.9
Agree
****2
3.4
46.4
12.4 1.3
36.5
responded to the baseline question
Strongly
...caused environmentally 1
42.2
39.4
8.3
10.0
naire (70% response rate), and 237
agree
2
0.9 6.5
39.5
43.5
9.5
to the follow-up questionnaire (91%
…incurable 1
10.0
39.4
8.3
42.2
****2
10.7
36.1
11.6 2.1
39.5
response rate). The majority of stu-
1.1
0.6 7.2
...mentally burdersome 1
35.4
55.8
dents agreed or strongly agreed to
1.7
2
6.8
46.6
43.2
1.7
dermatology being important for non-
...genetically determined 1
2.20
52.5.
22.7
4.4
18.2
2
0.85 13.7
55.6
27.4
2.6
dermatologists (70.9% at baseline and
...socially caused 1
3.3
42.0
20.4
2.8
31.5
75.2% at follow-up), while an overall
2
3.9
22.3
45.4
26.2
2.1
tendency towards neutral was obser-
Fig. 1. Percentage of agreement/disagreement by respondents regarding skin diseases at
ved for the statement “dermatology is
(1) baseline and (2) follow-up. Significance was determined using χ 2 tests (*p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001,
interesting” at baseline and follow-up.
****p < 0.0001).
1
doi: 10.2340/00015555-3047
Acta Derm Venereol 2019; 99: 248–249
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license. www.medicaljournals.se/acta
Journal Compilation © 2019 Acta Dermato-Venereologica.