Journal Article

6530 The role of undergraduate paediatric conferences to improve medical student exposure to paediatrics

Bilgrami, Syeda, Okten, Elif Ilayda, Kerdegari, Nikki, Sakatsume, Risako

2024

Overview

Objectives‘Milestones To Go: Accessibility and Development within Paediatrics’, was a 2023 National Undergraduate Paediatric conference, organised by undergraduate students from King’s College London (KCL) Paediatric Society. The conference aimed to highlight the general training pathway, alongside offering insight into the field of paediatrics for medical students and sixth-formers.MethodsA survey was emailed to participants pre and post-conference, which included questions assessed by the ten-point Likert scale.RStudio was used to conduct a Mann-Whitney U test comparing the mean rank Likert scale scores of students’ interest and understanding in paediatrics pre and post- conference and p <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results111 students attended the conference. 105 students completed the pre-conference survey (n=65 university; n=40 sixth-form), and 90 students completed the post- conference survey (n=38 university; n=52 sixth-form).The results yielded by the Mann-Whitney U-Test demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the students’ understanding of what a paediatric career involves with the mean score being 6.12 pre-conference and 7.88 post-conference (U = 1810.5, p <0.001). Similarly, the students’ understanding of what is required to pursue a paediatric career has increased from a mean score of 5.12 pre-conference and 7.71 post-conference (U = 1318, p < 0.001).Comparatively, interest in paediatrics exhibited no statistically significant change (p = 0.1864).ConclusionThere were statistically significant changes in the understanding of student delegates of a paediatric career and the application process. Reasons for this could include:Limited paediatric placements during earlier years in medical school.Inviting a speaker from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, providing clarity regarding the paediatric application process.A range of subspecialties, demonstrating the breath of paediatrics.However, this association between student conferences and understanding in paediatrics may be confounded by both medical students and sixth formers filling out the feedback forms. Sixth formers would have had less exposure to paediatrics and therefore show a greater increase in understanding, hence positively skewing the results.This conference introduced the paediatric specialty pathway and opportunities available to aspiring paediatricians to fill the gap in the medical curriculum. Our statistically significant results demonstrate the value of student paediatric conferences to develop undergraduate understanding of a paediatric career. Undergraduate medical curricula should aim to introduce the specialty pathway at an earlier stage to aid a better foundation towards specialty application.

• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health,BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subject: Careers / Child Health / Conferences (Gatherings) / Curricula / Likert scale / Likert Scales / Medical students / Paediatric Educator’s Special Interest Group / Pediatrics / Statistical analysis / Students / Surveys / Undergraduate Students