Future of Medical Education Journal
Year:2018 | Volume:8 | Issue:1 |Papers Count:8

Clinical education is the central part of medical education (1). The importance of learning atmosphere in fostering professional development and role socialization have been well documented (2, 3) The operating room (OR) is a complicated system, which coordinates the person, technology, and patient in a physical environment for achieving optimal outcomes (4). According to Sigurdsson, "OR as a functional context relies on effective multidisciplinary teamwork which makes the OR such a dynamic and challenging area in which to work" (5). The OR is a stressful learning context setting, where mistakes were not allowed. The conflict between emotion and technical responsibilities could constricts the teaching and learning process. This stressful setting has a great impact on students' self-image and their professional growth (6)...

Background: Educational achievement is highly important in the higher education and universities’ system in all countries. Critical thinking and problem solving skills are the main outcomes of higher education and the accreditation criteria. Happiness is one of the fundamental emotions of human beings that has a crucial role in the health of individuals and society. It could be the catalyst and facilitator in the development of critical thinking. The purpose of the present study was to compare critical thinking skills and happiness among the students of different universities. Methods: This is a descriptive analytical study conducted on 244 students of different universities of Ghaen that entered the study by multistage cluster sampling. Rytas questionnaire of critical thinking 2003 and Oxford Happiness questionnaire were used and the data were analyzed by SPSS (ver. 14), Pearson's correlation, independent t-test, and ANOVA and the statistical significance level was 0. 05. Results: 163 participants (66. 8%) were male and 81 students (33. 2%) were female. The results presented that there is a significant difference between the mean of critical thinking and happiness among the students based on universities (p􀀀 0. 05). Furthermore, there is a significant difference between critical thinking and happiness (r=0. 246). Conclusions: Educational programmers should concern critical thinking and the methods to upgrade it. Moreover, the teachers should use new teaching methods in the curriculum in order to increase happiness in the students.

Introduction: Modern methods and telemonitoring manage care and control of chronic diseases has improved, meanwhile, the hospital uses traditional methods to teach their patients. Purpose of Study: The purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of three methods of follow-up (SMS, telephone and regular follow up) on the quality of life in heart failure patients. Methods: In the randomized clinical trial, patients with heart failure admitted to Emam Ali and Emam Reza hospitals were selected. The patients or dependent relatives of the patients had used mobile phones and text messages with a written consent participated in the study. With a convenience sampling the patients selected and patients randomly assigned to three groups of SMS, telephone and regular follow-up, respectively. Each patient was assessed before and in the first, second and third months after discharge, respectively. To collect data, the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire was used. The data were analyzed with software SPSS VER19 by paired t test, repeated measure ANOVA and curves. Finding: Twenty five patients assigned to each group. Therewere not statistically significant differences between the quality of life of the telephone follow up before and the first, second and third months, as well as in the regular follow-up (36± 12. 6, 41. 7± 14. 4, 36. 5± 13. 5 and 36± 13. 2, respectively) and also there wasn’ t significant difference between before discharge and after 3 months in regular follow up (38± 17 vs. 39. 7± 17. 7) In the follow up via SMS, there was a significant difference between the quality of life before and in the first, second and third months (49. 6± 21. 5, 43. 9± 16. 6, 39. 1± 13. 8 and 38. 4± 12. 6 respectively). Conclusion: Because the heart failure patients need different education and follow up, the result of this study showed that SMS follow up can promote the patients’ quality of life, but telephone and usual follow up didn’ t change the quality of change in heart failure patients. Hence, follow up by SMS may be considered in these patients.

Background: Awareness of the motives of the students for choosing to study medicine demonstrates their understanding of the nature of this major and their expectations from their future profession. The evaluation of the volume of students who choose this major with wrong motives is necessary for educational planning of professional commitment. This study was conducted to evaluate the motives of choosing to study medicine in the first-year medical students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This descriptive analytical study was conducted on the first-semester of medical students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in the 2014-15 academic year who were selected through census sampling. The data collection tool was a self-administered questionnaire, which included questions on 17 different motives in a Likert scale in addition to demographic characteristics. Results: Of 131 distributed questionnaires, 124 (93%) were completed and returned. Eighty-six participants (65. 61%) mentioned helping others as their main motive for choosing medicine followed by interest in the human body (44. 3%), interaction with people (32. 8%), professional prestige (26. 7%), and starting a good profession after graduation (21. 4%). On the other hand, unfamiliarity with other majors (0. 8%), competition with others (2. 3%), and teamwork (4. 6%) were the least important motives. Conclusions: The students’ motives are mostly altruistic and in accordance with medical professionalism. These motives should be reinforced to enhance professional performance. Moreover, the faculty of medicine should recognize and offer counseling services to students with undesirable motives.

Introduction: Evaluation is an effective factor to assure the quality of education. Evaluation of clinical education assessment methods, as the most important step in educating certified physicians, is essential in order to determine the strengths and eliminate the defects. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the evaluation methods of students by clinical education groups of Birjand University of Medical Sciences. Method: This is a descriptive-cross sectional study conducted in the academic year of 2016-2017. The statistical population consisted of interns in clinical departments of Birjand University of Medical Sciences who were selected by purposeful sampling. The tool for evaluating the researcher-made checklist was based on the ACGME model, whose content and formal validity were confirmed by experts. After collecting data, data were recorded and analyzed in Excel software. Results: The results of this study showed that most of the tests conducted in internship courses were in the fields of written method, key points and history (76. 66% of the clinical groups); in the evaluation by the supervisor, oral exam (40 percent), and in the multi-source evaluation or 360-degree area, only from the work folder (0. 33 percent), and in the field of clinical simulation, none of the tests have been used for evaluation. Conclusion: Considering that the tests evaluated only the knowledge and also evaluated the skills in limited cases, it is suggested that, while creating the ground for increasing the awareness of the professors about other tests, an instruction to necessitate the evaluation of all areas of learning in all clinical sections should be developed.

Background and objectives: Nowadays, the educational system is considered as the basis and infrastructure of socio-economic, political, and cultural development of the society. Educational progress is one of the important indicators in educational system evaluation. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies with academic achievement of students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences. Method: The present correlation study was conducted on 342 students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences during the 2016 – 2017 academic year that were selected randomly. The data collection tool included a standard questionnaire for cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies and also the average score of the students in order to study academic achievement. Data were analyzed using SPSS (ver. 18) software and descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentage of frequency), multiple regression tests, independent t-test and analysis of variance. Results: 58. 5% (200 students) of the participants were female. The result of multiple regression showed a significant difference between cognitive and metacognitive strategies with academic achievement (p <0. 001). There was a statistically significant relationship between gender and academic achievement of the students (p <0. 001) and between the faculty that they belonged to with meta-cognitive strategies (P = 0. 40) and academic achievement (P = 0. 005). Conclusion: Considering the relationship between cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies and the academic achievement of the students, it is recommended to improve the academic achievement of the students via designing suitable curriculum assignments, teaching learning strategies, and using new educational methods.

Introduction: The aim of this paper is to study the experiences of the twenty-first century general dentistry curriculum in the world's prestigious universities and use it to revise the curriculum in Iran. Methods: The research method is a qualitative type of historical research. Firstly, with library studies and with the analysis and interpretation of data, various types of integration in the dental program of some of the reputable universities of the world were investigated and then a picture of the situation in Iran was presented. Finally, methods to use the global experience to improve the dentistry curriculum of Iran were studied. Results: The findings show that two types of integration in the dentistry curriculum have been applied during the first decade of the twenty-first century: horizontal integration and vertical integration. In terms of number, the cases of vertical integration are more numerous; two horizontal integration and forty vertical integration cases were identified. Conclusion: The benefits of the integration over a long period of six years of dentistry are remarkable. These benefits are from an educational perspective to ease of learning, continuity of retention, reminding speed, and careful utilization, each of which is sufficient to redefine curricula in this field. In addition, these empirical reasons, along with the pressure of aligning with global programs and meeting social needs and adapting to labor market conditions, have made it necessary to revise curricula based on integration criteria and, of course, benefit more to the universities that have brought them to action on the basis of global experience and timely action.

Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of real-time electronic formative assessmentbased medical education on learners’ motivational beliefs and selfregulation strategies. Methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 323 students studying at the Medical School of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, during the first semester of the academic year of 2017-2018 using a posttest control group design. The investigation of motivational beliefs and self-regulation strategies was accomplished using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. The research hypotheses were studied by means of independent t-test and multivariate analysis of variance. Results: According to the results, there was a significant difference between the control and intervention groups in terms of motivational strategy subscales, namely self-efficacy, intrinsic value, test anxiety, and self-regulation (P<0. 05). In this regard, the intervention group showed higher mean scores in motivational beliefs and self-regulation strategies, compared to the control group. However, no significant difference was observed between the two groups regarding the mean cognitive strategies (P>0. 05). Conclusion: As the findings indicated, the use of real-time electronic formative assessment in the educational environment can enhance students’ motivational beliefs and self-regulation strategies in medical education.