Canadian medical students' perceptions of public health education in the undergraduate medical curriculum.

Purpose: To understand the perceptions and attitudes of Canadian medical students toward their undergraduate medical public health curriculum and to identify student suggestions and priorities for curriculum change.

Method: Five focus groups of 11 or 12 medical students from all years of medical school were recruited at McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine, and University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine between February and April 2006. A professional facilitator was hired to conduct the focus groups using a unique, computer-based facilitation system.

Assessing Canadian medical students' familiarity with and interest in pursuing a career in community medicine.

Objectives: Following the SARS outbreak, large gaps in the public health workforce have been identified. This study sought to understand the perceptions and attitudes of Canadian medical students with regard to public health to determine how this impacted their choice towards a career in Community Medicine (CM).

Methods: Five focus groups of 11-12 medical students from all years were recruited at McMaster University, Université de Sherbrooke, University of Toronto, University of Manitoba and the University of British Columbia.