| Medical management that includes an individual's genetic information is referred to as personalized medicine. Research involving the human genome and pharmacogenomic research, observing the interaction between different genes and medications, have both been monumental in the development and implementation of personalized medicine. As the emerging field continues to grow, there is much debate about the potential benefits and consequences of personalized medicine. Though there is research examining how people view personalized medicine, there are limited studies involving a target population from ethnic and racial minority groups. This study examined the knowledge and perception of personalized medicine among the students at Howard University. A total of 46 students participated in the research completing a 33 question survey. We found that the majority of students had a moderate knowledge of personalized medicine. As expected, students from natural science, health and medical school had a higher knowledge of personalized medicine than students from other academic fields. There was no difference in knowledge between graduate and professional students and undergraduate students. We also found that 98% of students had a positive perception of personalized medicine however, graduate and professional participants had lower perception then undergraduate participants. There was no difference in perception based upon the participants' age or spirituality. In conclusion, this study supports the findings from previous studies, which indicates a positive perception of personalized medicine. |
