Objective: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a vital skill that can improve the outcome of patients with sudden cardiac arrest. To raise awareness about CPR some countries have introduced an obligatory First Aid Course (FAC), usually done parallelly to a driver's license (DL). While expected of doctors to know CPR, the curriculum of some medical schools does not seem to have enforced measures to improve that knowledge. The aim was to have students self-evaluate their current knowledge of CPR, comparing it before university and whether it improved during their studies.
Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in October 2020 using an anonymous questionnaire among students at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade (studies in English).
Results: A total of 172 (66.7%) students possessed a DL, of which 39.8% felt they were ready, 45.8% felt neutral, and 14.4% felt unable to perform CPR. The total number of students that completed a FAC during their studies was 165. Analysis was performed on the ability assessment data after the first FAC during studies, comparing it to FAC for DL and assessments at the end of studies. No statistically significant difference was observed in the level of self-reported ability to perform CPR, while a statistically significant difference was found in ability assessments when comparing only the FAC for the DL, and the one after the first FAC during medical studies, with students feeling more prepared after the FAC for DL. Across the sample, 90.2% of the students wished they had more CPR training during their medical studies.
Conclusions: From this study, it may conclude that students wish and need more CPR training in their curriculum.