Attitudes on health promotion among medical students and implications for future practice

A lack of positive attitude towards health promotion is identified as a major barrier encountered by physicians in delivering effective health promotion to patients and the wider community. As a key component of physician training, medical students would benefit from regular 'attitudinal' screening and professional guidance to cultivate both positive attitudes and corresponding professional responses towards health promotion. This review will delineate the multiple and diverse predictors that influence attitudes towards health promotion over time. The paper also provides recommendations to generate better attitudes in medical practitioners in training. Finally, the review advocates for the ongoing facilitation of longitudinal follow up studies investigating trends in the formation of positive attitudes towards health promotion in medical students to establish effective evidence based strategies to further enhance health promoting attitudes and behaviors.