Sunscreen Knowledge and Sun Protective Behaviors among Medical Students at a Southern US Institution

Literature has demonstrated that medical students have discrepancies in their knowledge and their execution of best practices concerning sun protection. Additionally, despite knowing the harms of tanning, medical students acknowledge that they desire tan skin. A survey was sent to medical students at a Southeastern institution to determine their knowledge of sun safety and their personal practices. The survey was distributed through institutional emails and student messaging applications. Current medical students at the home institution were eligible to complete the survey. The survey was designed with guidelines from the American Academy of Dermatology in mind. Chi-square analysis was performed by SPSS Version 28.0.1.1 (14). The majority of medical students are knowledgeable of best sun protective practices, though many students do not carry out these practices. For example, 88% of students know to reapply sunscreen every 2 hours; however, only 28% always reapply at the correct interval. Several demographic differences were present between self-reported race and gender groups in the knowledge, behaviors, and tanning questions. Medical students are knowledgeable of best practices for preventing sun damage; however, their personal behaviors can deviate and societal pressure for some students to have “tanned” skin is challenging to overcome.