Perceptions of public health education among medical students in Ireland: A qualitative study

Objectives: This study seeks to explore the perceptions, understanding and expectations held by medical students studying in Ireland towards public health (PH) education and the practice of public health medicine (PHM). Study design: Qualitative semi-structured interviews. Methods: Participants were recruited from all medical universities in Ireland using purposive and snowball sampling. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted and transcribed. Thematic analysis was performed using the Braun and Clarke method to identify semantic and latent themes. Transcripts were read repeatedly for familiarization with the data, following which initial codes were created. Related codes were grouped into categories and these were subsequently reviewed to generate themes. Results: 13 medical students in their penultimate and final year across five Irish universities were recruited. Three key themes were generated from the analysis. 1) Variations in perceived relevance of PH to medical training. Students articulated mixed views on the importance of PH in the medical curriculum, as well as misconceptions around the role of PH physicians. 2) Deprioritization of PH education during clinical training. Participants perceived that PH was deprioritized by institutions and by students themselves. 3) Limited exposure to PH in practice. The reduced visibility of PH practitioners, and limited exposure to PH workplaces during clinical training deters students from considering PHM as a future career. Conclusions: There is a need to address students’ lack of understanding and misconceptions relating to PH practice within the medical curriculum in Ireland and to provide more practical opportunities for exposure to PHM.