The results of a recent study given to final year medical students at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, found many admitted to attending clinical rounds even though they were experiencing contagious symptoms.
Authors of the study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, conducted a survey of all 178 final year medical students at the university. The students were asked to fill out the survey after each mandatory clinical rotation. All total, the researchers collected 549 surveys.
Of the surveys completed, 37 percent of the students reported attending rotations while experiencing symptoms suggestive of a contagious illness. Overall, the odds of attending rotations while ill for all student rotations were 4.92.
The top reasons students gave for attending rotations while sick included concerns regarding evaluation or the impact that missing time from the rotation would have on their learning.
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