DOI: 10.12688/mep.21779.1 ISSN: 2312-7996

Real-World Cardiovascular Disease Awareness and Educational Interventions: Their Impact on Medical Student Confidence in Recognizing Cardiac Conditions

Roshni Patel, Naheed Wallizada, Shane Warren
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Background Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of mortality worldwide, yet medical students may have limited confidence in recognizing cardiac conditions. This study evaluated whether prior real-world cardiovascular exposure, a brief educational intervention, and completion of a cardiology block were associated with medical students’ confidence and cardiovascular knowledge. Methods A longitudinal survey-based study was conducted among second-year osteopathic medical students at a college of osteopathic medicine in the southeastern United States. Sixty-five students completed a pre-survey before the cardiology block. Thirty-four participants received a brief cardiovascular educational module, while 31 completed a control survey without the module. Fifty-one participants completed a common post-survey following the cardiology block. Confidence was measured using 5-point Likert-scale items, and cardiovascular knowledge was assessed using multiple-choice and case-based questions. Relationships between prior cardiovascular exposure, confidence, and knowledge were also evaluated. Results Before the cardiology block, students receiving the educational module reported higher confidence across measured domains than controls, with differences of approximately 0.6–0.7 points and large effect sizes. Students with prior clinical cardiovascular exposure also demonstrated higher baseline confidence than students with family or media exposure alone. Following completion of the cardiology block, both groups demonstrated high confidence across domains, and most between-group differences were no longer statistically significant. Confidence was not consistently associated with knowledge accuracy. Conclusions Brief educational interventions and prior clinical exposure may improve early cardiovascular confidence; however, comprehensive longitudinal cardiology instruction appears to have a greater influence on sustained confidence. These findings also demonstrate the importance of evaluating objective knowledge alongside self-reported confidence.

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