Nephrophobia: a retrospective study of medical students’ attitudes towards nephrology education

Abstract

Background Nephrology is a subject which is challenged by a lack of applicants for trainee places. This study addresses the attitudes of medical students towards the subject and explores the causes of this lack of interest amongst potential specialty trainees. Methods Students were asked to complete a survey ranking their attitudes towards nephrology and other specialties. This data was collated and analysed to show trends and allow comparison of the attitudes towards each specialty. Results Students felt that along with geriatrics, their least favourite subject was nephrology. Students felt unconfident in diagnosing, managing and understanding chronic conditions more so than acute conditions. Nephrology was consistently amongst the least popular subject for all areas of diagnosis, management and pathophysiology. Renal anatomy was the only area of nephrology that students felt confident in. The less popular specialties of nephrology and geriatrics had the greatest room for improvement when directly instructed in specialty medical training. Conclusions Nephrology remains a problematic and unpopular specialty for medical students, driving their unwillingness to consider it as a future career route. This study identifies areas of misconception amongst medical students toward the specialty and highlights areas for improvement in renal training for students.

Residents’ satisfaction and suggestions to improve nephrology residency in Italy, and comparison with the organization in other European countries

“…In this paper, the author analyzes a number of issues in U.S. medical school programs and seeks to understand why few students are now choosing nephrology. Similar trends have emerged in other countries: in the U.K., for example, medical school graduates’ unwillingness to specialize in nephrology has led to the term nephrophobia [ 2 ].…”

Tıp Fakültesi Öğrencilerinin Farmakoloji Dersine Yönelik Tutumları: Ölçek Geliştirme ve Uygulama Çalışması

“…Medical students should be encouraged to take ownership of their own clinical learning by adopting a variety of attitudes and behaviors that can enrich their educational experience, facilitate teaching from residents and faculty, and promote a positive learning environment (9). Although there are studies on anatomy (10), embryology (11), pathology (12), psychiatry (13), nephrology (14) and neurology (15) courses that evaluate student attitudes in medical education, there is no study that develops an attitude scale in the field of pharmacology. In a limited number of studies related to the pharmacology course, attitude towards different evaluation methods (16), correlation between attendance of lectures and exam performance (17), and impact of teambased learning on student satisfaction and performance (18) were evaluated.…”