Burns teaching in UK medical schools: Is it enough?

Abstract

Background: Burns are frequently seen and managed in non-specialist settings. The crowding of the UK medical undergraduate curriculum may have resulted in the reduction of teaching on burns.

Aim: To determine the burns education experience and the level of competence among UK final year medical students in assessing and acutely managing patients with burns.

Methods: An online questionnaire was circulated among UK final year medical students.

Results: There was a total of 348 respondents. The majority of the respondents (70%) have not received any specific teaching on how to manage patients with burns. Nearly two-thirds of the students (66%) have never seen a patient being managed for burns throughout their training. Over 90% of respondents stated that they would not feel confident in initially managing a burn in the emergency department. The majority of the respondents (57%) have not heard of the criteria for referring a burns patient for further specialist management. There was almost universal agreement about the importance of knowing how to manage a burn initially.

Conclusions: There seems to be a lack of consistent undergraduate training in burns management and final year students lack the experience and knowledge to initially manage burns.

Keywords: Burns; Curriculum; Education; Exposure; Medical students; UK.