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Where students go when they are ill: how medical students access health care
Author(s) -
Hooper Clare,
Meakin Richard,
Jones Melvyn
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
medical education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.776
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1365-2923
pISSN - 0308-0110
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2929.2005.02175.x
Subject(s) - family medicine , medicine , referral , quarter (canadian coin) , family member , medical prescription , health care , nursing , archaeology , economics , history , economic growth
Background Doctors have high levels of self‐treatment, investigation and referral, but little is known about how medical students seek health care. Methods We carried out a questionnaire survey of Year 2 and 4 students, exploring their health‐seeking behaviour and attitudes to self‐care. Setting A London medical school. Results The response rate was 80%. Nearly all students (99%) were registered with a general practitioner (GP). A total of 43% had informally consulted doctors who were friends or relatives in the previous 12 months (61% of those with a doctor as a family member had informally consulted, and 33% of those without a doctor as a family member had informally consulted; P = 0.001). In all, 13% of Year 4 students and 2.2% of Year 2 students had received a prescription from a friend ( P = 0.007). Almost a quarter (22%) of Year 4 and 1.3% of Year 2 students reported having directly contacted a specialist ( P = 0.01). A third (32%) (43% Year 4, 1.3% Year 2; P = 0.006) of those referred in the previous 12 months had contacted the consultant directly. In all, 9.2% (0% Year 2, 20% Year 4; P = 0.001) had initiated their own investigations, and 25% (47% Year 4, 7% Year 2; P = 0.001) had been examined by a colleague. Students agreed that it was appropriate for doctors to self‐investigate (52%), self‐refer (59.1%) and self‐prescribe (39.2%). Conclusion Medical students appear to bypass their GPs and initiate investigations, referrals or treatment. This is associated with increased clinical access or access through family members. Self‐management of illness is learnt early on in students' careers and is increased with availability and increasing clinical access.