Introduction: Many residents and fellows complete graduate medical education having received minimal unbiased financial planning guidance. This places them at risk of making ill-informed financial decisions, which may lead to significant harm to them and their families. Therefore, we sought to provide fellows with comprehensive unbiased financial education and empower them to make timely, constructive financial decisions.Methods: A self-selected cohort of cardiovascular disease, pulmonary and critical care, and infectious disease fellows (n = 18) at a single institution attended a live, eight-hour interactive course on personal finance. The course consisted of four two-hour sessions delivered over four weeks, facilitated by an unbiased business school faculty member with expertise in personal finance. Prior to the course, all participants completed a demographic survey. After course completion, participants were offered an exit survey evaluating the course, which also asked respondents for any tangible financial decisions made as a result of the course learning. Results: Participants included 12 women and six men, with a mean age of 33 and varying amounts of debt and financial assets. Twelve respondents completed the exit survey, and all “Strongly Agreed” that courses on financial literacy are important for trainees. In addition, 11 reported that the course helped them make important financial decisions, providing 21 examples.Conclusions: Fellows derive a significant benefit from objective financial literacy education. Graduate medical education programs should offer comprehensive financial literacy education to all graduating trainees, and that education should be provided by an unbiased expert who has no incentive to sell financial products and services.
BackgroundMany physicians complete medical school and graduate medical education (GME) burdened by high debt and financial illiteracy. This places them at increased risk for ill-informed financial decisions, which can result in increased stress and anxiety and a lower quality of life. Furthermore, financial concerns impact physicians’ specialty selections and may partly explain the scarcity of primary care practitioners. In response, medical wellness programmes have increasingly sought to offer personal finance education, but there is little guidance on optimal curricula. Our objective is to systematically review the existing literature examining physician financial literacy curricula and to recommend a standardised personal finance curriculum.MethodsThis review used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 checklist to report the results of literature searches in PubMed, ERIC, MedEdPortal, EBSCO, JSTOR and Google Scholar. Three researchers used predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria to select articles, including a focus on financial concepts applicable in the USA. Selected articles published between 2000 and 2022 were assessed using the BEME strength of findings tool, and further assessed using modified Côté-Turgeon and Kirkpatrick model qualitative analyses tools.Findings49 articles met all inclusion criteria. Ten specifically described personal finance literacy curricula for medical students or GME trainees, with varied criteria for selecting instructors, topics and outcomes. All studies reported that audiences were ill prepared for making financial decisions but strongly desired financial literacy education. Qualitative analysis revealed Strength of Findings summary scores ranging from 2 to 4, while applicable Kirkpatrick Model scores were all 3 or greater. Based on these findings, a 14-module personal finance curriculum is proposed by the researchers, along with learning objectives.InterpretationAlthough medical students and GME trainees value financial literacy, few publications report the impact of actual curricula. These efforts vary in depth, breadth and measured impact. Future research should focus on development of valid testing instruments specifically for physicians, content standardisation, selection of credible instructors and delivery formats.
BackgroundMany physicians complete medical school and graduate medical education (GME) burdened by high debt and financial illiteracy. This places them at higher risk for ill-informed financial decisions, which can result in increased stress and anxiety and a lower quality of life. In response, medical wellness programs have increasingly sought to offer personal finance education, but there is little guidance on optimal curricula. Our objective is to systematically review the existing literature examining physician financial literacy curricula and to recommend a standardized curriculum.MethodsThis review utilized the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2009 checklist to conduct literature searches in PubMed, ERIC, MedEdPortal, EBSCO, JSTOR, and Google Scholar. Three researchers used predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria to select articles, including a focus on financial concepts applicable in the United States. Articles were assessed using modified Côté-Turgeon and Kirkpatrick qualitative analyses tools. Results38 articles met all inclusion criteria. Six specifically described personal finance literacy curricula for medical students or GME trainees, with varied criteria for selecting instructors, topics, and outcomes. All studies reported that audiences were ill-prepared for making financial decisions but strongly desired financial literacy education. Qualitative analysis revealed Strength of Findings summary scores ranging from 2-4, while applicable Kirkpatrick Model scores were all 3 or greater.ConclusionsAlthough medical students and GME trainees value financial literacy, few publications report the impact of actual curricula. These efforts vary in depth, breadth, and measured impact. Future research should focus on development of valid testing instruments, content standardization, selection of credible instructors, and country-specific financial concepts.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.