The Lymphatic System, Lymphoedema, and Medical Curricula–Survey of Australian Medical Graduates

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Kruger, Natalie
Plinsinga, Melanie L
Noble-Jones, Rhian
Piller, Neil
Keeley, Vaughan
Hayes, Sandra C
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2022
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Abstract

The aim of this study was to survey the perceptions of recent (i.e., within the past 12 months) Australian medical graduates regarding (i) their understanding of the lymphatic system and lymphoedema, and (ii) the extent to which the lymphatic system and lymphoedema were covered as part of their medical degree. Medical graduates were invited to participate in a 17-item online survey that asked respondents to rate their level of agreement (using a 5-point Likert scale; higher scores = higher agreement) to statements that explored their understanding and comprehensiveness of their medical degree. Responses to each item were described using n (%). Subscale scores for understanding and medical degree were computed by summing scores of individual items, described using means (SD) and compared by participant characteristics. Medical graduates (n = 230) perceived their understanding of the lymphatic system and lymphoedema to be low, and comprehensiveness of medical curricula specific to the lymphatic system and lymphoedema to be lacking. Subscale scores did not differ by participant characteristics. Improvement of medical graduates understanding of lymphoedema may facilitate greater awareness of lymphoedema, thus optimizing the timeliness of diagnosis and access to treatment.

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Cancers

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14

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24

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© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Subject

Medical physiology not elsewhere classified

Oncology and carcinogenesis

Science & Technology

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Oncology

medical education

graduate physician

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Kruger, N; Plinsinga, ML; Noble-Jones, R; Piller, N; Keeley, V; Hayes, SC, The Lymphatic System, Lymphoedema, and Medical Curricula–Survey of Australian Medical Graduates, Cancers, 2022, 14 (24), pp. 6219

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