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Pre- and Post-Clerkship Knowledge, Perceptions, and Acceptability of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) in 3rd Year Medical Students

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Abstract

To examine the impact of the third year psychiatry clerkship on medical students’ knowledge and opinion of ECT at University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine. Despite overwhelming evidence of ECT’s efficacy and safety for refractory affective illnesses, (among other conditions), it remains a misunderstood and underutilized intervention. Several studies indicate that ECT stigma and misinformation, unfortunately, does not spare the medical community. Medical students are an optimal group to study, as they are forming their perspectives on different specialties. Few studies have measured the effect of education programs (e.g., clerkships, lectures, observation of ECT) on medical students’ perspectives on ECT.

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Correspondence to Ayodeji Ogunleye.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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In case animals were involved: This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

In case humans are involved: Informed consent; All individual participants included in the study were provided an “Opt out” form to decline participation.

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Ithman, M., O’Connell, C., Ogunleye, A. et al. Pre- and Post-Clerkship Knowledge, Perceptions, and Acceptability of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) in 3rd Year Medical Students. Psychiatr Q 89, 869–880 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-018-9585-4

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