Trakya University Faculty of Medicine Interns’ Assesment of Disaster Response Self-Efficacy: An Intervention Study

Abstract

Aim: The World Health Organization defines a disaster as an "unexpected ecological phenomenon that exceeds the capacity and resources of an institution, disrupts normal functioning, and requires external assistance". The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of providing disaster training intervention to intern doctors at Trakya University Faculty of Medicine on their self-efficacy in disaster response, and to provide recommendations for enhancing their disaster response self-efficacy. Methods: An intervention-type study was conducted with final-year students of Trakya University Faculty of Medicine. Following the Kahramanmaraş earthquake on February 6, 2023, disaster-related courses and public health services in disasters were added to the 6th Year Rural Medicine Internship curriculum. All 49 participants who attended these courses were included in the research. Before the disaster-related courses in the 6th-year rural medicine internship, participants were administered a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Disaster Response Self-Efficacy Scale (DRSES); only the DRSES scale was administered at the end of the rural medicine internship. Results: The average age of interns participating in the study was 24.8±1.2 years, with 26 (53.1%) being female. Twenty-one (42.9%) of the participants reported experiencing a disaster in their lifetime, while 29 (59.2%) stated that there had been a disaster in their family. Twenty-nine (59.2%) participants indicated receiving disaster-related training during their medical education, while 47 (95.9%) expressed a need for disaster-related education. Eighty-five point seven percent (85.7%) of the participants rated their self-efficacy in disaster response as "poor." The mean pre-test score for the DRSES was 62.82±13.06, and the mean post-test score was 72.80±10.21, with a statistically significant difference between them (p