Strides in Development of Medical Education Journal
Year:2016 | Volume:12 | Issue:5|Papers Count:18

Background & Objective: Students' love of learning and need for learning lead to adopting of strategies which are the grounds for innovation, especially at a global level. Therefore, the implementation of effective methods and strategies to create motivation and interest in learning in students seems essential. The main purpose of this study was to study the relationship between medical student's love of learning, need for learning, and passion for searching and global innovation. Methods: This correlational descriptive study was carried out on students of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Iran, during the 2014-2015 academic years. From among 338 students, 200 students (86 men and 114 women) were selected through random sampling method and using the Cochran formula. The data collection tools consisted of McFarlane’s Love of Learning Questionnaire, Mowen Lifelong Learning Questionnaire, the Sensation Seeking Scale, and Hurt’s Global Innovation Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression in SPSS software.Results: The findings indicated that love of learning and need for learning were significant positive predictors of students' global innovation (R2=0.44, P<0.001) and passion for searching (R2=0.27, P<0.001). The passion for searching was a direct, positive, and significant predictor of students' global innovation (R2=0.37, P<0.001). The mediator variable of passion for searching had a key position in the relationship of love for learning and need for learning with students' global innovation. Conclusion: Based on the relationship between exogenous, mediator, and endogenous variables, it seems that the love for learning is considered to be strength. In addition, through perseverance, individuals will win various merits. Thus, universities should create the grounds for student's innovation by providing the necessary conditions for the flourishing of talent, and creating of interest and love of learning through the passion for searching.

Background & Objective: Lack of conformity to study principles results in reduced level of human productivity and efficiency, demoralization, and loss of self-esteem, boredom and disenchantment. Effective studying, like any other activity, requires special skills. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of direct and distant training of study skills on study methods and satisfaction of undergraduate students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran.Methods: This interventional study was conducted on 80 new entrants to the undergraduate program of Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2013. Students completed a questionnaire before and after the training. The data were analyzed using independent and paired t-tests in SPSS software. Data were expressed as central and distribution indicators, and descriptive tables.Results: The mean scores of study skills and satisfaction were significantly different in both e-learning and workshop groups after the intervention (P<0.001). The e-learning group achieved higher scores compared to the workshop group. Furthermore, the subcategories of study skills were significantly increased in the e-learning group compared with the workshop group after the intervention (P<0.001).Conclusion: Although both methods improved the students study skills, the results revealed that e- learning had a more significant effect on their skills. The results of this study also showed the positive effects of participating in a study skills training program on the students’ satisfaction. It is therefore suggested that, due to students’ interest in electronic tools, e-learning be included in the training of new entrants to the undergraduate students programs.

Background & Objective: Cheating in the university can be a predictor of workplace fraud and workplace fraud among physicians and specialists will have negative consequences. This study was performed for the purpose of determining the prevalence of all kinds of cheating among medical students which were in their last three years of Medical School at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in 2010.Methods: The study sample consisted of 136 medical students in their last three years of study. The participants were selected through simple random sampling. The data collection tool was a self- administered questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts and its reliability was reported as 0.87 in a study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent t-test (for the variable of gender) in SPSS statistical software.Results: All students answered the questionnaire; thus, the response rate was 100%. Among the respondents, 64% were male and the rest female. According to the results, more than 80% of students had experienced copying during an exam at least once during the academic period. Moreover, 25% of students have performed at least one kind of plagiarism in writing their thesis and essays. The performance of medical students in the clinical course showed that 50% of students had cheated at least once during their academic period. The rate of cheating was significantly lower in female students.Conclusion: Although the majority of students have a positive attitude and believe cheating to be a dishonest action, half of them have cheated. This may be due to stress caused by examinations. Therefore, it seems that students’ behaviors should be changed and they must receive the necessary training in this regard, so that stress is not the cause of fraud and this phenomenon is inhibited.

Background & Objective: An important individual difference among students is their learning approaches. Learning approaches are styles through which the learner selects information and integrates them. Identifying students’ learning approaches and educational planning result in the attainment of educational achievements by students. The aim of this study was to evaluate learning approaches and determine their relationship with demographic characteristics of postgraduate students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran.Methods: This was a descriptive, analytical, correlational study on 400 postgraduate students selected through random sampling. The data collection tool consisted of a questionnaire with two sections of demographic characteristics and learning approaches. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, and standard deviation) and ANOVA and chi-square tests in SPSS software.Results: The frequencies of deep, surface, and surface-deep approaches among the students were 70.5%, 23.5%, and 6.0%. Moreover, among demographic characteristic, the students’ occupation had a significant relationship with their approaches to learning (P=0.032). There was no relationship between learning approaches and other demographic characteristics of students.Conclusion: This study showed that the majority of postgraduate students in Kerman University of Medical Sciences preferred the deep learning approach. This learning approach had a significant relationship with their occupation. It frequency was higher in unemployed people. These findings are useful for the university and professors.

Background & Objective: Information literacy is a critical requirement for access to information in the communication age in the community. Through using critical thinking skills, valid and reliable information can be obtained. This research was conducted to determine the relationship of critical thinking with information literacy among student of the School of Management and Medical Information Sciences of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 338 students of the School of Management and Medical Information Sciences of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2014. The valid and reliable California Critical Thinking Skills Test-Form B (CCTST) and the Information Literacy Standard Questionnaire were used for collecting data. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation coefficient test in SPSS software.Results: The critical thinking skills among students were at a low level. A weak relationship was observed between the mean score of critical thinking and information literacy (P=0.050). In addition, students' information literacy had a positive correlation with inference components (r=0.12, P=0.040) and analysis components of critical thinking (r=16, P=0.006).Conclusion: Given the low level of critical thinking in students and the relationship between the components of critical thinking and information literacy, the implementation of programs to improve students' critical thinking is recommended. This is necessary due to the dependence of the increase in students' information literacy on critical thinking.

Background & Objective: In recent years, with regard to the role of effective and undeniable role of, social and behavioral factors in the disease, health and mortality, many medical colleges in developed and developing countries hold social and behavioral sciences in training program of medical students. In addition, a doctor is at the direct interaction with the patients pants with different social, cultural and economic conditions, so some medical colleges aims to enhance and improve the interaction between the doctor and patients and it is related to social and behavioral sciences. Social and behavioral sciences include a wide spectrum are relatively: sociology, psychology, medical anthropology, demographics, medical ethics, the economy and health, health policy and urban planning. The aim of this study was determine the attitudes of physicians and social scientists about the need for social science education at medical school.Methods: The information was collected by distributing a questionnaire among 126 persons.Results: The results showed that in terms of both physicians and social science specialists, social science education to medical students is necessary. Both groups agreed on key areas and priority. There was no significant difference between the two views.Conclusion: The results of this research could contribute to the revision of the medical curriculum.

Background & Objective: In nursing, clinical education due to its importance is known as the heart of professional education. One of the skills taught in the clinical environment is nursing procedures. Studies show that even students who have complete theoretical knowledge are unable to provide care and perform the required skills at the clients’ bedside independently. Thus, the present study was carried out with the aim to reveal the problems and challenges of nursing students in nursing procedures training.Methods: This descriptive-exploratory study was conducted with qualitative approach in 2016. The study participants consisted of 12 students from the School of Nursing. Purposive sampling was conducted until data saturation. Data were collected through interviews. All interviews were tape-recorded, handwritten, and analyzed line by line. To analyze the data, conventional content analysis was used.Results: From the interviews, 5 main categories and 17 subcategories, which represent students' experiences of the challenges of nursing procedures training, were extracted. The categories included the transition from skill lab to practice, discrepancies between education and clinical practice, fears, practice of clinical instructor, and students’ characteristics.Conclusion: Students are only able to perform the correct nursing procedures, when the appropriate training is provided. Considering the entrance behavior of students, attracting and employing experienced clinical teachers, and improving the learning environment can help in overcoming the obstacles expressed by students.

Background & Objective: The main objective of this study was to survey the postgraduate periodontology course in Iran and compare its curriculum with that of selected dental schools in the United States and Canada.Methods: This was a descriptive study. First, data were gathered based on the information available on the universities’ websites. Then, postgraduate periodontology curriculum of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran, was investigated and compared to that of Harvard University, Boston University, University of Maryland, and University of Toronto. The studied variables consisted of number of years of education, dental education model, education curriculum, completed units, number of hours of completed units.Results: In all selected dental schools, the overall curriculum was course-centered with theoretical courses in the stomatology system accompanied with clinical courses. Great emphasis was placed on research. Harvard University provides academic, research, and clinical training, the period of its course ranged from 45 to 57 months, and the graduates received two periodontal degrees. Nevertheless, the main emphasis at the University of Toronto is clinical and research training and the duration of the period is 36 months, and the training is provided in the form of surgical or nonsurgical treatment. In the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the training consists of surgery, correction, and regeneration of oral tissue, implantology, and gingival surgery. The Department of Periodontics of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences provides a curriculum similar to that of the University of Toronto. Its training program consists of courses on implantology, periodontics, tissue engineering, plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery of the mouth. This training program comprises 40 courses presented in 2784 hours.Conclusion: It seems that filling the minds of the learners with medical, physiopathological, and stomatological topics reduces clinical activity and significantly reduces research and academic papers. Thus, the academic rating of dentistry schools in Iran can be improved through providing postgraduate periodontology courses similar to those provided by high ranking universities. This can also render fellowship and postgraduate courses more efficient for Iranian students.

Background & Objective: Advancement in technology and the combination of traditional and new methods can promote education. The purpose of the present study was to compare knowledge and attitude of dental students regarding caries risk assessment (CRA) after a course using blended learning and traditional workshops.Methods: A controlled trial was designed and 82 final-year dental students were recruited in two groups of workshop (n=39) and blended learning (n=39). In the blended group, access to a designed website and online material was possible in addition to face-to-face education. A validated researcher-made questionnaire (Cronbach’s alpha =0.7) was used to assess demographic information, and knowledge of and attitude toward CRA before and after the educational course. The mean score of knowledge before and after the course was calculated and compared between the two groups using paired t-test and repeated measures ANOVA in SPSS software.Results: Of the 82 students, 78 (95%) participated in the study. The mean score of knowledge in post-test in the group attending workshops was (13.35±1.61) significantly higher than pre-test (7.00±3.06) (P<0.050). In the blended learning group, the mean score of knowledge in the post-test (14.71±1.43) was higher than pre-test (8.12±2.20) (P<0.050). Considering the baseline score, no significant difference was observed between the two groups in post-test. In the attitude domain, participants in both groups believed that the course had improved their knowledge regarding CRA and CRA was useful in educational dental clinic.Conclusion: Both methods significantly improved knowledge and attitude of students regarding CRA. The students believed the blended learning method to be useful in CRA. Thus, the use of this method is recommended as a complementary teaching method for general dentistry students.

Background & Objective: A survey of the trend of students’ referral to university counseling service centers can aid administrators in identifying students’ problems and resolving them. In this study, the trend of students’ referral to the university counseling service center was evaluated during 7 semesters.Methods: In this retrospective study, the causes of students’ referral to the university counseling service center were examined over a period of time. Data were collected from the archives of the university counseling center. The data were analyzed using chi-square test in SPSS software and were described through percentage and frequency.Results: Among the 2,130 studied students, 28.9% were men and 71.1% women with a mean age of 22.39±3.5 (18 to 38 years). The students’ referral to the university counseling service center had a linear and decreasing trend. The most common causes of students’ referral to the counseling service center in this period were adaptive and individual problems (31%), psycho-emotional (26.5%), educational (18.9%), familial-marital (15.8%), and others (7.8%). During this period, the rate of students’ referral decreased in all areas except others.Conclusion: The findings revealed that the most common causes for students’ referrals to the counseling center were adaptive and individual problems, psycho-emotional problems. The rate of students’ referral had a linear trend and decreased in most areas.

Background & Objective: Numerous factors together are the cause of satisfaction with the field of education. Thus, the lack of presence of only one factor can reduce an individual's satisfaction or cause dissatisfaction with the field of study. Satisfaction with study is an influential construct in the education process which consists  of students' perception of training programs,  the circumstance required for the community, and teachers’ guidance. Since learning has a strong relationship with satisfaction with the field of study, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of feedback on interest in the field of study.Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on all nursing students in their 7th semester in schools of nursing and midwifery in Arak and Shazand, Iran, in the first half-year of 2014-2015. The students were undertaking their internship in the post coronary care unit (post- CCU) of Amir Kabir Hospital of Arak, Iran. The participants were randomly divided into two groups of intervention and control. Each group was divided into subgroups of 7 and 8 students and each group undertook their internship in 4 weeks in the morning shift. To determine the effects of these methods, after completion of each stage of the internship, all students completed the questionnaire and the results were compared.Results: 17 (94.4%) students in the intervention group were interested in nursing and only 1 (3.3%) student reported their lack of interest in the field of nursing. A significant difference was observed between the intervention and control groups in this respect (P<0.007).Conclusion: It can be concluded that the feedback provided for the students during the training increased their satisfaction with the field of nursing.

Professionalism in medicine is an important issue because providing medical care is not all about collecting recent medical knowledge and performing clinical skills. There are also some factors that highlight the importance of professionalism in the training of medical students. Some of the most important reasons include the rapid expansion of medical knowledge, advances of technology, and more sophisticated and educated patients with higher expectations (1). The identification of Professionalism by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has stimulated great interest among residency training programs on how to teach and assess professionalism to residents (2).