Pre-medical preparation in microbiology among applicants and matriculants in osteopathic medical school in the United States
It is recognized that medical school curricula contain significant microbiology-related content as part of the training of future physicians who will be responsible stewards of antimicrobials. Surprisingly, osteopathic and allopathic medical schools do not require pre-medical microbiology coursewor...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Society for Microbiology
2017-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://jmbesubmissions.asm.org/index.php/jmbe/article/view/1372 |
| Summary: | It is recognized that medical school curricula contain significant microbiology-related content as part of the training of future physicians who will be responsible stewards of antimicrobials. Surprisingly, osteopathic and allopathic medical schools do not require pre-medical microbiology coursework, and the extent to which medical students have completed microbiology coursework remains poorly understood. In this report, we show that fewer than 3% of applicants and matriculants to osteopathic medical school (OMS) have completed
an undergraduate major or minor in microbiology, and fewer than 17% of applicants and matriculants to OMS have completed one or more microbiology-related courses. These data demonstrate limited pre-medical
microbiology-related knowledge among osteopathic medical students, which may be associated with an increase in perceived stress when learning this content or during clinical rotations as well as a potential lack of interest in pursuing a career in infectious diseases.
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| ISSN: | 1935-7877 1935-7885 |