Scottish medical students’ thoughts on learning about ME/CFS
In early 2024 medical students at Scottish medical schools were invited to take part in an essay competition, 500 words on the topic of ‘What is your most important learning point about myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)?’
In an article for the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Dr Nina Muirhead gives an overview to what they learnt about ME/CFS and how they reacted when writing for the competition, which was funded by the Scottish Government’s education project: Learn About ME.
‘Imagine my surprise to discover ME/CFS is definitely not rare, but inexplicably and infuriatingly unacknowledged’. (Fifth year medical student, Scotland)
Dr Muirhead writes “ME/CFS affects at least 280,000 people in the UK, including approximately 23,000 in Scotland. It is a neurological disease with multisystem symptoms, often triggered by a virus. People with ME/CFS may be left bedbound or housebound with a significantly reduced quality of life. Yet many healthcare professionals do not know how to diagnose or manage this devastating disease, nor do they know how, or what, to teach our next generation of doctors.”
‘Alas, the only time in the last four years I have encountered the term ME/CFS at medical school was as a differential diagnosis for fibromyalgia’ [medical student, Scotland]
ME/CFS also has a major impact on family members’ quality of life. Nearly a third of medical students responding commented on the impact on quality of life as being one of the most important things to learn about this disease.
One student described the experience and delay in diagnosis for two of their family members:
‘. . . these young women were discarded as victims of teenage laziness or anxiety. They had to fight to gain support from their GP and their diagnosis took several second opinions and ultimately years’.
Another medical student displayed incredible insight in recognising the deficiency of the current system, which relies largely on patient self-help:
‘the burden being placed on the patient to improve their condition through mental work’.
Dr Muirhead sums up:
“It is vital that this topic features more prominently in the medical curriculum, and in our medical textbooks, to avoid patient harm due to delayed or mis-diagnosis and mismanagement.
There is a lot we can offer ME/CFS patients:
- an early and accurate diagnosis
- medication for symptom control
- practical support with disability applications and mobility aids
but above all, these medical students have reminded us that ME/CFS patients should be treated with kindness, compassion and belief.”
Read the full article: Medical students highlight the importance of medical education, kindness, compassion and belief when learning about patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome
Read the winning essay: Learning points about myalgic encephalitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: Bridging the gap between research, clinical practice and awareness, by Bhanu Wahi-Singh
“My most important learning point about ME/CFS, however, is how it really exemplifies that the best doctors are the ones that listen and form a relationship with patients. ME/CFS is often a truly debilitating chronic condition, and it is imperative for us as clinicians to recognise this and understand how it impacts the patient’s life, not just dismiss it because it is complex with an incomplete knowledge base…
ME/CFS is often a truly debilitating chronic condition, and it is imperative for us as clinicians to recognise this and understand how it impacts the patient’s life, not just dismiss it because it is complex with an incomplete knowledge base.”
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