RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Current provision of myelopathy education in medical schools in the UK: protocol for a national medical student survey
JF BMJ Open
JO BMJ Open
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP e035563
DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-035563
VO 10
IS 8
A1 Oliver Mowforth
A1 Benjamin Davies
A1 Max Stewart
A1 Sam Smith
A1 Alice Willison
A1 Shahzaib Ahmed
A1 Michelle Starkey
A1 Iwan Sadler
A1 Ellen Sarewitz
A1 Sybil Stacpoole
A1 Mark Kotter
YR 2020
UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/8/e035563.abstract
AB Introduction Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is a common, disabling and progressive neurological condition triggered by chronic compression of the cervical spinal cord by surrounding degenerative changes. Early diagnosis and specialist management are essential to reduce disability, yet time to diagnosis is typically prolonged. Lack of sufficient representation of DCM in undergraduate and postgraduate medical curricula may contribute to the poor recognition of DCM by non-specialist doctors in clinical practice.In this study, our objective, therefore, is to assess DCM teaching provision in medical schools throughout the UK and to assess the impact of teaching on the DCM knowledge of UK medical students.Methods and analysis A 19-item questionnaire capturing data on medical student demographics, myelopathy teaching and myelopathy knowledge was designed. Ethical approval was granted by the Psychology Research Ethics Committee, University of Cambridge. An online survey was hosted on Myelopathy.org, an international myelopathy charity. Students studying at a UK medical school are eligible for inclusion. The survey is advertised nationally through university social media pages, university email bulletins and the national student network of Myelopathy.org. Advertisements are scheduled monthly over a 12-month recruitment period. Participation is incentivised by entering consenting participants of completed surveys to an Amazon voucher prize draw. Responses are anonymised using participant-chosen unique identifier codes. A participant information sheet followed by an explicit survey question captures participant informed consent. Regular updates on the progress of the study will be published on Myelopathy.org.Ethics and Dissemination Ethical approval for the study was granted by the Psychology Research Ethics Committee, University of Cambridge (PRE.2018.099). The findings of the study described in this protocol, and all other related work, will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and will be presented at scientific conferences.