The attitude of the medical students of the University of Hong Kong towards emergency medicine

Abstract

Introduction: Understanding how medical students view the Specialty of Emergency Medicine is important. The knowledge helps the leaders in Emergency Medicine better plan the development of the specialty. In the medical literature, few studies primarily investigated this subject. Most were on the career choice of medical students. This study aimed at addressing this knowledge gap. Methods: It was a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of the year 3 to 5 medical students studying at the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong. The questionnaire measuring their attitude consisted of 16 items in 3 domains: overall merits of Emergency Medicine, the role and function of emergency physicians and the career prospect in Emergency Medicine. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Their attitude was represented by an attitude score with 80 being most positive and 16 most negative. Results: A total of 298 students participated in the survey. The response rate was 64.5%. The overall median attitude score was 59. Year 5 students had a statistically significant higher score. Emergency Medicine ranked third in their first specialty choice after qualification. There was no statistical relationship between a student's attitude score and the specialty choice. Conclusion: The students' overall attitude towards Emergency Medicine was positive. Senior students held a more positive attitude. A student's specialty choice after qualification did not seem to relate to their attitude towards the specialty.