Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness of Health Professions Students A Multidisciplinary Assessment of Knowledge Confidence and Attitude

The authors surveyed medical, nursing, and dental students to evaluate knowledge, comfort, perceived competency, and motivation related to disaster response. Results showed that respondents’ knowledge was greater than their perceived competency, and that they were motivated to undergo additional training and respond to disasters. The authors contend that health professional students can get most of their disaster education through the existing (and slightly modified) curricula, and the addition of a few focused subjects delivered through “novel educational approaches.”