Undergraduate nursing and medical students’ perceptions of food security and access to healthy food in Qatar: a photovoice study

The present study explored nursing and medical students’ perceptions of food security, their access to healthy food and the circumstances that affect their access to healthy food in Qatar. The photovoice method was adopted in the present study. Students submitted their photos pertaining to food security and their access to healthy food in Qatar. Afterwards, the students completed an online synchronous semi-structured interview. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. After the data analysis, a focus group discussion was conducted for member checking. The present study is a collaborative project between two universities in Qatar: The University of Calgary in Qatar (UCQ) and Qatar University (QU). Undergraduate students (seven nursing students and nine medical students) were recruited, asked to collect photos and interviewed. Four themes emerged from the data. First, food retail environments promoted unhealthy eating. Second, fast food under stressful circumstances: a sense of comfort. Third, food as a symbol of culture and socialisation. Finally, the paradox of access to affordable and healthy food in Qatar. Undergraduate students highlighted various circumstances that affect their perceptions of food security and their access to healthy food in Qatar. Future research that aims at understanding the facilitators and barriers to access healthy food at the university campus may help to improve nutrition interventions targeting those students. Future initiatives should focus on leveraging various resources to assist universities in tailoring their food initiatives to suit their students’ local needs.

Reevaluating Biochemistry and Nutrition Education Through Opinions of Clinicians and Educators

Biochemistry is a core component of medical education as it contributes to the fundamental basis and understanding of molecular mechanisms in pathophysiological processes. The convergence of nutritional factors also gives insight to many chronic diseases. Topics of nutrition are often incorporated into biochemistry coursework and must be integrated in a way that makes sense within the overall curriculum. An important issue raised by this structure is determining which topics are most important to a student's understanding and what topics are most relevant to future clinical practice. Previous surveys show medical undergraduates feel that much of current medical biochemistry coursework lacks clinical relevance and pays too much attention to small details. Here we report the results of a survey that aims to determine the biochemical and nutritional topics that physicians and educators feel are most important to teach in medical school. This information is important for medical schools to better prepare their students for what they will see and apply in their future clinical practice. Physicians and medical educators were surveyed, asked demographic questions, and then requested to provide a prioritized list of the top 10 biochemistry and nutrition topics that they believed should be focused on in undergraduate medical education. Topics suggested by participants were normalized for spelling, acronyms, and abbreviations and given a weight from 10 to 1. A prioritized list was then created based on the suggested topics. This list provides insight into the topics that medical educators and physicians consider important to cover in undergraduate medical education.