Evaluation of the effect of IMCI training on medical students

Abstract

The WHO strategy of Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) was adopted in 1996 by the Ministry of Health of Brazil, as a program of public health, in accordance with the national rules related to children care. Since 1997, the program has been set up in several Brazilian states, and has been included in the medical course in some universities. To evaluate the changes in medical students' attitudes and knowledge about pediatric primary care, after a workshop on IMCI. Cohort prospective study: fourteen medical students were enrolled and trained between December 2002 and June 2003. The students answered a questionnaire about pediatric primary care, before and after the training period. The first and second answered questionnaires were compared statistically, using the signal and McNemar tests. SPSS software was used for data entry and statistical analysis. There were significant changes in the students' knowledge about clinical signs of severe disease, of pneumonia, of severe pneumonia, of severe undernutrition, of dehydration and use of appropriate vaccines. There were significant changes in the students' knowledge about infantile mortality and mortality causes in children. There were significant improvements in the abilities to correctly indicate substitute food for breast milk during and after weaning, and to teach mothers how to breastfeed. The medical student attitudes and knowledge about prevalent pediatric illnesses and about children's primary care have been significantly modified by the training in IMCI.