Feed us nutrition: final year medical students' perceptions of nutrition medical education

Background: Nutrition is recognised as an integral aspect of Australian medical education. Since medical students will learn more of a subject they consider important, there is a need for their perceptions of nutrition to be investigated. Aims: To identify final year medical students' perceptions about nutrition and its inclusion in their medical course, and to compare priority nutrition topics identified with those previously identified by Faculty and General Practitioners (GPs) who teach in the undergraduate curriculum. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of all final year medical students attending the University of Newcastle was conducted, using a distributed questionnaire, comprising three sections: demographics, perceptions about nutrition and its inclusion in the medical course, and a listing of 38 major nutrition topics. Main outcome measures were: interest in nutrition, and whether it should be included in the undergraduate medical curriculum; rated importance of listed nutrition topics; comparison between students and Faculty and GPs. Frequency distributions and Chi square analyses were used to compare group responses. Results: Seventy-one per cent of the students were interested in nutrition and 94% believed it should be included in the medical curriculum. More than 60% of the students nominated 21 of the 38 topics essential or important. Thirteen of these topics were also highly rated by Faculty and GPs, although Faculty and GPs rated more topics as essential or important. Conclusions: Newcastle medical students are interested in nutrition and believe it should be included in their medical curriculum. This may be due to their clinical exposure and the educational milieu of the University of Newcastle Medical School. Exposure to nutrition in their undergraduate education appears to be an important determinant for priority designated nutrition topics.