Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Context

Medical students and medical professionals have knowledge deficits related to organ and tissue transplantation.

Objective

To implement and evaluate a medical education intervention on organ and tissue donation designed for first-year medical students.

Study Design

Independent sample pretest and posttest design.

Setting and Participants

First-year medical students attending University at Buffalo School of Medicine during fall 2005 and fall 2006 terms.

Intervention

A 1-hour lecture on the background of organ donation, donor eligibility (eg, living vs deceased donation), policies and roles during transplantation (eg, role of physician and organ procurement organization), and the organ-matching process. After the lecture, students participated in a small-group interaction that used standardized patients who role-played 1 of 2 scenarios designed to test students' knowledge and communication about organ and tissue donation.

Outcome Measures

Knowledge, self-efficacy, family discussion, and enrollment into state organ and tissue registry.

Results

Significant increases from pretest to posttest in medical students' knowledge, self-efficacy, and family notification of donation intentions were found. The intervention was successful in increasing students' knowledge and awareness about organ and tissue donation. Future research should implement and evaluate a course-long curriculum on donation.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Waiting List Candidates [database on the Internet]. Richmond (VA): The United Network for Organ Sharing. http://www.unos.org. Accessed January 9, 2008.

2005 National Survey of Organ and Tissue Donation Attitudes and Behaviors: 3.2 Organ Donation Behaviors. http://www.organdonor.gov/survey2005/organ_behavior.htm. Accessed January 9, 2008.

Feeley

Servoss

. Examining college student intentions to become organ donors. J Health Commun. 2005;10:237–249.

Cosse

Weisenberger

. Words versus actions about organ donation: A four-year tracking study of attitudes and self-reported behavior. J Bus Res. 2000;50:297–303.

Sheehy

Conrad

Brigham

. Estimating the number of potential organ donors in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2003;349:667–674.

Feeley

. College students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding organ donation. J App Soc Psychol. 2007;37:243–271.

Horton

. A model of willingness to become a potential organ donor. Soc Sci Med. 1991;33:1037–1051.

Morgan

Cannon

. African Americans' knowledge about organ donation: Closing the gap with more effective persuasive message strategies. J Natl Med Assoc. 2003;95:1066–1071.

Bardell

Hunter

DJW

Kent

WDT

Jain

. Do medical students have the knowledge needed to maximize organ donation rates? Can J Surg. 2003;46:453–457.

10.

Blok

Morton

Morley

Kerckhoffs

CCJ

Kootstra

Van Der Vleuten

CPM

. Requesting organ donation: The case of self-efficacy. Adv Health Sci Educ. 2004;9:261–282.

11.

Edwards

Essman

Thornton

. Assessing racial and ethnic differences in medical student knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding organ donation. J Natl Med Assoc. 2007;99:131–137.

12.

Fallowfield

Jenkins

Beveridge

. Truth may hurt but deceit hurts more: Communication skills in palliative care. Palliative Med. 2002;16:297–303.

13.

Girgis

Sanson-Fisher

. Breaking bad news: Consensus guidelines for medical practitioners. J Clin Oncol. 1995;13:2449–2456.

14.

Bidigare

Ellis

. Family physicians' role in recruitment of organ donors. Arch Fam Med. 2000;9:601–611.

15.

Prottas

Batten

. Health professionals and hospital administrators in organ procurement: Attitudes, reservations, and their resolutions. Am J Public Health. 1988;78:642–645.

16.

Siminoff

Arnold

Caplan

. Health care professional attitudes toward donation: Effect on practice and procurement. J Trauma. 1995;39:553–559.

17.

Randall

Marwick

. Physicians' attitudes and approaches are pivotal in procuring organs for transplantation. JAMA. 1991;13:1227–1228.

18.

Novello

Braslow

. Increasing organ donations: An important issue for medical educators. Acad Med. 1992;67:314–315.

19.

Essman

Lebovitz

. Donation education for medical students: Enhancing the link between physicians and procurement professionals. Prog Transplant. 2005;15:124–128.

20.

Bandura

. Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychol Rev. 1977;84:191–215.

21.

Bandura

. Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman and Company; 1997.

22.

Wendler

Dickert

. The consent process for cadaveric organ procurement: How does it work? How can it be improved? JAMA. 2001;285:329–333.

23.

Rosenthal

Rosnow

Rubin

. Contrasts and Effect Sizes in Behavioral Research. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 2000.

24.

Feeley

Manyon

Servoss

Panzarella

. Toward validation of an assessment tool designed to measure medical students' integration of scientific knowledge and clinical communication skills. Eval Health Prof. 2003;26:222–233.

25.

Coolican

Swanson

. Primary health-care physicians: Vital roles in organ and tissue donation. Conn Med. 1998;62:149–153.

26.

Saub

Shapiro

Radecki

. Do patients want to talk to their physicians about organ donation? Attitudes and knowledge about organ donation: A study of Orange County, California residents. J Commun Health. 1998;23:407–417.

27.

Spielman

Verhulst

. Discussing organ donations with patients. Fam Med. 1996;28:698–701.

28.

Riker

White

. The effect of physician education on the rates of donation request and tissue donation. Transplantation. 1995;59:880–884.

An Educational Intervention on Organ and Tissue Donation for First-Year Medical Students

Abstract

Context

Objective

Study Design

Setting and Participants

Intervention

Outcome Measures

Results

Get full access to this article

References