To the Issue of Building Health Knowledge in Students of Higher and Secondary Medical Education Institutions of Vladivostok

Abstract

Introduction: The realities of today demonstrate high importance of the ability of healthcare professionals to raise awareness of health knowledge in the population. Skills of health promotion develop already in the course of training in medical educational establishments. Our objective was to assess the dynamics of building health knowledge in medical students in the process of studying. Materials and methods: We conducted a targeted questionnaire-based survey of 264 medical students including 167 students of the Faculty of Public Health of the Pacific State Medical University (hereinafter referred to as University) specializing in preventive medicine, clinical psychology, and medical biochemistry and 97 students of medical and nursing departments of the Vladivostok Medical College (hereinafter referred to as College) in the first and final year of study. A specially developed questionnaire included 25 questions on basic knowledge of clinical medicine, health, and health maintenance behavior. Data analysis was conducted using methods of descriptive statistics (cross-tabulation analysis and Student’s t-test). Conclusions: Our findings helped improve the curriculum of hygienic disciplines by including optional classes aimed at consolidating theoretical knowledge gained in the study of hygienic and epidemiological disciplines and at acquiring practical skills in accordance with professional competencies.