HOME HELP CONTACT US FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS CURRENT ISSUE PAST ISSUES SEARCH		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Résumé Full Text Full Text (PDF) Rapid Responses: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Rapid Responses are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Burge, P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Burge, P. Related Collections Résumés de recherche

Medical students’ views on training in intellectual disabilities

Hélène Ouellette-Kuntz, MSc
Associate Professor in the Departments of Community Health and Epidemiology and Psychiatry at Queen’s University

Barry Isaacs, MA PhD
Director of Research and Evaluation at Surrey Place Centre in Toronto, Ont

Yona Lunsky, MA PhD
Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto and a psychologist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Undergraduate Medical Education in Intellectual Disabilities Group at Queen’s University
The Undergraduate Medical Education in Intellectual Disabilities Group at Queen’s University consists of Tom Cheetham MD, Deborah Elliott MD MPA, Renée Fitzpatrick MD, Rianne Hastie, Jessica Jones D Clin Psy, Jennifer MacKenzie MD, and Carol Martin MA.

Correspondence to: Mr Philip Burge, Queen’s University, c/o Ongwanada, 191 Portsmouth Ave, Kingston, ON K7M 8A6; telephone 613 549-7944; e-mail burgep{at}queensu.ca

OBJECTIVE To examine undergraduate medical training in the field of intellectual disabilities (ID) from the perspective of clinical clerks.

DESIGN Cross-sectional self-administered survey.

SETTING Clerkship rotations at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont, and the University of Toronto in Ontario in 2006.

PARTICIPANTS A total of 196 upper-year undergraduate medical students (clerks).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Contact with people with ID, training in the field of ID, perceptions of current training in ID, and views on ways to improve the curriculum in the area of ID.

RESULTS Most students (85.6%) had received some didactic and clinical training in managing patients with ID, but most of these (93.3%) believed that curriculum enhancements, especially more contact with patients with ID and more time in the curriculum for training in care of people with ID, were necessary.

CONCLUSION This study found that the curriculum enhancements long recommended by experts in the field of ID were also desired by clinical clerks. This finding adds considerable weight to the recommendation that improvements in training in ID should be incorporated into undergraduate medical education programs.