Abstract
The significance of clinical practice for medical students is continuing to increase in conformity with international standards, but the clinical practice of infection control is less well developed. The present study evaluated infection control education using simulations involving 94 medical students. A survey was conducted to evaluate the knowledge of standard precautions and cleaning, disinfection and sterilization techniques before and after practice in the surgical operation center. Before the practice, 91% of the students were aware of the standard precautions, but 68% considered that the intentions were unfamiliar. After the practice, 97% of the students understood the standard precautions, and 95% believed that they could practice the standard precautions. The students displayed a significant increase in knowledge about cleaning, disinfection and sterilization after the practice. Standard precautions are not included in the learning purpose of the objective structured clinical examination, so addition should be considered. The present results indicate that education using simulation is effective for the understanding of standard precautions, as well as for cleaning, disinfection and sterilization techniques. The standard precautions are diverse and present difficulty in clinical practice, so continuous education should be provided throughout the training from medical student to physician.
