Assessment of knowledge levels and opinions on notifiable communicable diseases of term 3 and term 6 students of faculty of medicine 2017-2018 education period

This study was carried out to assess the knowledge levels and opinions about Notifiable CDs of Term 3 and Term 6 students of Faculty of Medicine and to contribute to awareness raising studies and education about this issue in the view of obtained outcomes. In this descriptive study, a questionnaire was applied to 73,4 percent of Term 3 and Term 6 medical students to determine their knowledge and opinions about Notifiable CDs. It was found that 33,3% of the students who participated in the survey didn't know the number and groups of Notifiable CDs. Additionally, 9,0%; 15,3%, 8,3% and 16,0% of students knew correctly the Notifiable CDs of category A, B, C, and D respectively. It was determined that 20,8% of the students knew correctly the Form 014 used for reporting Notifiable CD's. The difference between the knowledge of Term 3 and Term 6 medical students about Form 014 was statistically significant in favour of Term 6 (p<0.05). It was found that only 7,6% of the students who participated in the survey knew correctly Form 014-D which was used in the notification of Notifiable CDs reported by authorised laboratory, 95,1% of students in the study group didn't read the relevant legislation about Notifiable CDs and 93,75% of students didn't know the legal sanctions they could face when the notification wasn't made. Although 85,4% of students stated that they got lectures about Notifiable CDs during their education terms, their knowledge levels were found to be low. 70,1% of students stated that they believe that notification of Notifiable CDs is insufficient in Turkey. 41,7% of students defined the education of Notifiable CDs they got was insufficient. In conclusion, it was determined that the students of Faculty of Medicine in Term 3 and 6 were in lack of knowledge about Notifiable CDs. Taking into account that the level of knowledge of students on Notifiable CDs is related to the education they receive, so, more detailed and up-to-date information should be included in the relevant curriculum. Moreover, both theoretically and practically inclusion of these topics in the training curriculum will increase the knowledge and awareness of students thus contributing to the correct and complete implementation of the Notifiable CDs notifications. Keywords: Notifiable communicable diseases, notification, level of knowledge, students of medical faculty, Form 014