Should sports and exercise medicine be taught in the Swiss undergraduate medical curricula? A survey among 1764 Swiss medical students

Abstract

Objectives: The global lack of sports and exercise medicine (SEM) teaching at medical schools contrasts with evidence that physical activity (PA) plays a major role in preventing and treating non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The aims of this study were to (a) examine whether Swiss medical students are expected to acquire SEM-related skills and knowledge, (b) systematically reviewed SEM teaching in the Swiss undergraduate medical curricula, (c) assess if Swiss medical students are aware of SEM and (d) whether they would like SEM to be included in their curricula.

Methods: Two authors independently screened the 'Principal Relevant Objectives and Framework for Integrative Learning and Education in Switzerland' (PROFILES) for SEM-related learning objectives and reviewed the curricula. 7708 Swiss medical students were invited to participate in an online survey.

Results: 32 SEM-related learning objectives were identified in PROFILES with 20 of them linked to PA. Four of eight Swiss medical schools display limited mandatory SEM teachings. 1764 students participated in the survey (482.0% of the necessary sample size, 22.9% of all Swiss medical students). One in two students knew that SEM includes preventing and treating NCDs. Almost 95% of the participants would like SEM to be included in the curricula.

Conclusion: Despite its inclusion in PROFILES and comprehensive evidence that SEM should be taught at medical schools, this is scarcely the case in Switzerland. Swiss medical students have limited understanding of SEM, but are keen to have it included in the curricula. This study highlights the need for more comprehensive SEM teaching at Swiss medical schools.

Keywords: Switzerland; medical students; online survey; sports and exercise medicine; teaching; undergraduate.

Figure 1

Systematic review process of SEM teaching in the Swiss undergraduate medical curricula (ISSEMG, International Syllabus in Sport and Exercise Medicine Group).

Figure 2

Sample, population and response rate according to gender, University, academic level and study year. (A) response rate according to gender, (B) response rate according to university, (C) response rate according to academic level and (D) sample distribution according to study year. In panels (A–C), grey columns represent the number of students in the Swiss medical students’ population. In panels (A–D), black columns represent the number of students in the sample. Data on the top of each column are expressed in %. Given that the exact number of medical students in each study year was not available for all universities, it was not possible to calculate a response rate according to the year of study. The University of Fribourg offers only a bachelor of medicine, while the University of Neuchâtel offers only the first year of study. BS=University of Basel, BE=University of Bern, FR=University of Fribourg, GE=University of Geneva, LS=University of Lausanne, NE=University of Neuchâtel, ZH=University of Zurich and n=nth year of study.