ERIC Number: EJ1116450
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Nov
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1360-2322
EISSN: N/A
Medical Students' Attitudes towards Health Care for People with Intellectual Disabilities: A Qualitative Study
Ryan, Travis A.; Scior, Katrina
Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, v29 n6 p508-518 Nov 2016
Background: People with intellectual disabilities experience serious health inequalities (e.g. they die younger than people without intellectual disabilities). Medical students' attitudes towards health care for this population warrant empirical attention because, as tomorrow's doctors, they will affect the health inequalities that people with intellectual disabilities experience. Materials and Methods: This study investigated these attitudes by interviewing 17 medical students about medical students' attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities and thematically analysing resultant qualitative data. Results: Key themes were identified, such as medical students' worries about working with patients with intellectual disabilities, and their wish for more medical teaching on, and direct experience with, this patient group. Conclusions: This study suggests that medical schools need to better prepare medical students for their roles as providers of health care to people with intellectual disabilities by, for example, enhancing their attitudes towards health care for people with intellectual disabilities.
Descriptors: Medical Students, Student Attitudes, Attitudes toward Disabilities, Health Services, Patients, Role, Intellectual Disability, Medical Schools, Physicians, Interviews, Qualitative Research
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A