'I Feel Like It Was a Springboard for Certain Changes in My Life': A Qualitative Analysis of Medicine and Health Sciences Students' Experiences of Lifestyle Medicine Education.

Abstract

Introduction: Medical school and health professions education can be stressful for students, leading them to neglect their personal wellbeing and adopt unhealthy lifestyle behaviours. The RCSI Certificate in Lifestyle Medicine was developed to provide evidence-based knowledge on six pillars of lifestyle medicine, and outline strategies to help students adopt healthy lifestyle behaviours which they can apply to their personal and professional lives. The aim of this study was to examine student's perceptions of their lifestyle behaviours and preparation for clinical practice following course completion. Methods: Undergraduate and postgraduate medicine, pharmacy, physiotherapy, physician associates and research students enrolled in the online RCSI Certificate in Lifestyle Medicine between 2020 and 2022 voluntarily provided survey feedback via open-ended questions on the impact of the course on their own health behaviours and professional skills, and their satisfaction with course content, delivery, and methods of assessment. Findings were analysed using reflexive inductive thematic analysis. Results: Data from 98 student evaluations were analysed. Eighty-one percent of students attempted to make a lifestyle change during course completion. Four themes were identified; (1) opportunity for self-reflection on own health behaviours; (2) planning a lifestyle medicine approach to clinical practice; (3) facilitation of self-directed learning; and (4) recommendations for enhanced delivery of educational content. Students recognised the importance of lifestyle medicine in their own lives and those of their patients. Lifestyle medicine education was perceived by students as a core component of medicine and health sciences curricula, and they recommended that training in lifestyle medicine should be mandatory in undergraduate curricula for students training to be healthcare professionals, such as medicine, physiotherapy, and pharmacy. Conclusion: Findings indicate that lifestyle medicine education had a positive impact on student knowledge of lifestyle behaviours and prompted them to make healthier changes to their existing habits. Students acknowledged the importance of treating chronic disease using a lifestyle medicine approach, and felt more confident in educating their future patients on strategies to enhance their personal health and wellbeing. Students identified that a more holistic approach to chronic disease management through lifestyle medicine education will assist them as future healthcare professionals.