Abstract 

Chronic fatigue syndrome receives little attention in the medical curriculum. This study explores UK medical students’ knowledge of and attitudes towards chronic fatigue syndrome.

Semi-structured interviews (average length 22 minutes) were conducted with 21 participants (7 females and 14 males) in years 3 (n=4), 4 (n=11) and 5 (n=6) of their studies. Inductive thematic analysis taking a realist perspective produced three themes: limited knowledge, influences on attitudes and training needs.

Students acquired their knowledge and attitudes largely from informal sources and expressed difficulty understanding chronic fatigue syndrome within a traditional biomedical framework. Incorporating teaching about chronic fatigue syndrome into the medical curriculum within the context of a biopsychosocial understanding of illness could encourage more positive attitudes towards chronic fatigue syndrome.

Understanding medical students’ views of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A qualitative study by Alexandra Laura Stenhoff, Shireen Sadreddini, Sarah Peters, Alison Wearden in the Journal of Health Psychology, 20 September 2013. (e-published before print)