Journal of Vaccines & Vaccination

An evaluation of medical studentsâ?? knowledge of pediatric vaccinations in United Kingdom

10^th Euro Global Summit and Expo on Vaccines & Vaccination

June 16-18, 2016 Rome, Italy

Nighat Jahan Nadeem

King�??s College London, UK

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Vaccines Vaccin

Abstract:

Aims: Medical Students now have decreased exposure to vaccine preventable diseases as successful vaccination programs have decreased their prevalence. This may cause misconceptions and misinformation. The aim of this study was to explore medical students�?? knowledge of pediatric vaccinations, identify training needs and make recommendations for future training. Methods: Vaccination knowledge of students from 3 UK medical schools was assessed by an anonymous, cross sectional, internet survey from 14 April 2015 to 14 July 2015. Questions addressed vaccine guidelines, schedules, administration, handling, contraindications and adverse events. Analysis included comparison of proportions with the use of descriptive statistics. Ethical approval was obtained from King�??s College, University of London. Results: 109 students participated from 3 medical schools. The mean knowledge score was 5.7/10 (57%) and the most correctly answered question was related to whether vaccines cause autism. This was answered correctly by 102/103 (99.0%) of students. The most poorly answered question was related to whether vaccines can be frozen to maintain their potency and was answered correctly by 31/103 (30.1%). The number of students confessing to not knowing an answer rather than attempting to guess the answer was also highest for this question: 43/103 (41.7%). Conclusion: This study identifies gaps in knowledge amongst medical students and the findings form a platform to develop educational interventions to integrate into formal educational curriculum. Recommendations include developing up-to-date core competencies and promoting specific communication skills training in the role play setting. Teaching methods used in various institutions should be analyzed and compared to determine the most effective teaching strategies.

Biography :

Email: nighat.nadeem@doctors.org.uk