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Injury prevention in medical education: a Canadian medical school survey
  1. Jina El-Jebaoui1,
  2. Erika Schmitz1,2,
  3. Sonshire Figueira3,
  4. Jacinthe Lampron2
  1. 1 University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  2. 2 Department of General Surgery, Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  3. 3 Department of Trauma and Injury Prevention, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  1. Correspondence to Jina El-Jebaoui, University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada; jelje009{at}uottawa.ca

Abstract

Background Injury has a major societal impact. In Canada, injury is the leading cause of death among those aged 1–44 years, the fifth-leading cause of death among those of all ages and is responsible for a burden of US$26.8 billion in 2010. It holds that most injuries are predictable and preventable, and therefore, such statistics represent a serious public health concern. Given that physicians play a vital role in the prevention and control of injuries, further information regarding the current state of injury prevention education in medical undergraduate programmes in Canada would be beneficial. We hypothesise that the results of an observational survey distribute to all Canadian medical schools will demonstrate a substantial gap in injury prevention education integration in the existing medical school curriculums.

Study objective To evaluate the current status of Injury Prevention Education in Canadian Medical Schools preclerkship and clerkship medical curriculum.

Methods Electronic surveys evaluating the current status of injury prevention education were sent via email to each of the 16 Canadian medical schools.

Results Nine Canadian medical faculties (56%, n=9) responded. Eight of the nine medical schools (88.89%, n=8) offered at least five injury prevention related topics in their respective curricula. The most common injury-related courses were Role of physicians in the prevention of injuries (100%, n=9) and epidemiology of injury (88.89%, n=8). All respondent medical faculties (100%, n=9) offered at least a single injury prevention specific topic in their curricula. Most surveyed medical faculties (88.89%, n=8) offered nine injury-specific topics. The most common injury-specific topics included falls, suicide and self-harm, alcohol, burns and scalds, and concussion (100%, n=9)

  • Education
  • Training
  • Advocacy

Data availability statement

All data relevant to the study are included in the article.

https://doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2022-044523

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    Data availability statement

    All data relevant to the study are included in the article.

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors JE is guarantor for this paper.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.