Sharma, Umesh

Introduction: Financial literacy is an often-overlooked aspect of medical education. Prior research indicates that trainees frequently lack knowledge in areas such as loan repayment, retirement planning, and investing, despite reporting strong interest in financial education. Insufficient financial literacy may contribute to financial stress, burnout, and suboptimal long-term planning, highlighting the need for targeted curricula. Methods: We sent a cross-sectional survey to 446 medical students across all Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine campuses. One hundred thirteen recipients responded (25% response rate). Participants completed the abbreviated five-item Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) financial well-being scale, five previously published “Big 5” objective financial literacy questions, five investigator-developed medical training-specific knowledge questions, and seven investigator-developed self-assessed financial literacy items. We used descriptive statistics to summarize responses. We used analysis of variance, t tests, and regression analyses to assess differences across demographic groups. Results: Despite moderate literacy in all three measured domains, we identified gaps of knowledge regarding loan repayment and retirement planning. Students scored higher on “Big 5” items (3.91/5) than medical training-specific items (3.48/5; P = 0.001). No significant differences emerged across age, campus, or training year for financial well-being or objective literacy. Perceived and objective literacy were moderately correlated (r = 0.52, P<0.001). Interest in additional financial education was high (81%). Conclusion: Despite moderate financial literacy on basic concepts, medical students exhibit notable gaps in knowledge regarding loan repayment and retirement planning. These findings persist across all years of training, highlighting the need for structured, early financial education to better prepare students for long-term financial security.

Abstract Background Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can lead to a hypercoagulable state, particularly at initial diagnosis. Consequently, venous thromboembolism (VTE) represents a serious complication associated with IBD. For children, the risk of VTE near the time of IBD diagnosis has not yet been quantified, and guidance for VTE prophylaxis remains unclear. Methods This multisite matched case-control study examined pediatric patients with a new diagnosis of IBD from 2019-2024. Cases were those who developed VTE ≤30 days prior or ≤90 days post IBD diagnosis. Controls were newly diagnosed IBD patients without VTE. Each case was matched to 2-6 controls based on IBD subtype and age at IBD diagnosis. Demographics, laboratory values, prothrombotic risk factors and treatments were compared between matched cases and controls using conditional logistic regression stratified, by case sets. Results Study subjects included 15 cases and 52 controls, resulting in 70 matched pairs. Factors associated with early VTE included lower hemoglobin (P = .003), lower albumin (P = .002), corticosteroids use (P = .01), central line (P = .002), and any surgery ≤90 days post IBD diagnosis (P = .001). No association with VTE was detected for platelets, C-reactive protein, fecal calprotectin, family history of IBD or body mass index. Conclusions Albumin, hemoglobin, steroid use, central line, and any surgery ≤90 days post IBD diagnosis were associated with early VTE. These risk factors may be used in a future prediction model to stratify newly diagnosed pediatric IBD patients by their risk for early VTE development.