Evaluation of physical medicine and rehabilitation course for undergraduate medical students: A mixed-methods study

BACKGROUND: The objective was to evaluate an innovative physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) course for undergraduate students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences and their attitude and knowledge change following course participation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-one medical students filled the knowledge, attitude, and satisfaction forms pre- and postintervention. Nineteen medical students, two faculty physiatrists, two residents, two physical therapists, and two occupational therapists participated in the focus groups. RESULTS: We found significant attitude improvements. They declared the usefulness of PMR course for undergraduate. Moreover, they agreed that physiatrists could be first choice for refer of musculoskeletal patients and they preferred PMR as future career after course experience. Also, they preferred to refer musculoskeletal patients including carpal tunnel syndrome, frozen shoulder, nonspecific low back pain after course participation. We found a good relationship between attitude and practice scores (r = 0.543, P = 0.000); in fact, students' attitude would strongly predict their practice through a model involving age, satisfaction, and exam scores (R(2) = 0.356, B = 0.35 [0.06], and P = 0.000). CONCLUSION: We found that internship training course might be an effective method of teaching PMR. Improving attitude toward the field of PMR and patient referral practice, career choice and disability perceptions of undergraduates is concluded in this study. Investigation of the advantages of such courses in larger studies with longer follow-up time-points is highly recommend.