Future of Medical Education Journal
Year:2014 | Volume:4 | Issue:1|Papers Count:9

Background: Failure in reaching the predetermined goals of education can be considered as one of the most important problems of educational systems. Today, it is believed that active teaching methods are more effective than lecturing which lead to effective teaching. Participation of students in education is one of the major factors of active learning. The purpose of the present study is to determine student satisfaction with active participation (through seminar giving) in the case of teaching the topic of poisonings.Methods: This analytical descriptive study was conducted on all stage students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences who had selected the course of familiarity with poisoning and forensic medicine. The technical part of this topic was taught by students through seminar. For the evaluation of the satisfaction of students a questionnaire was used. Data was analyzed by SPSS 16; Pearson Correlation Test, and Independent T-test and meaningful level was considered as p£0.05.Results: forty students participated in this study. The mean of satisfaction score of students with active teaching method through seminar was 31.47 (out of maximum 50).The mean of satisfaction score in each one of the fields was meaningfully related with the total average students. The mean score of females in the field of internal interest and motivation was meaningfully more than males.Conclusion: The results of this study showed that students were satisfied with the participation in the process of teaching. Factors such as total average of students and their gender had affected their score which must be taken in to consideration in curriculum planning.

Background: professionalism assessment is one of the most difficult issues in medical education. In related references, it is recommended that professionalism assessment should be according to the status and attention to culture of each society. The purpose of the study was to design an appropriate framework in order to assess professionalism among medical students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.Methods: the professionalism assessment framework was developed in accordance with experts' perspective. Q methodology, that is a mixed research method to study people's viewpoint and subjectivity about the components of professionalism, was used to determine the relevant factors. The data were collected through focus group discussion and interview and analyzed quantitatively using exploratory factor analysis. In order to determine the most appropriate method, time, place and person to carry out the assessment, qualitative methods and interviews were used.Results: the factors influencing professionalism assessment included individual capacity and attention to culture - knowledge, medical skills and responsibility - managerial skills and preserving human dignity - organizational commitment and excellence - respecting other people's rights and duty – respecting laws, communication skills and altruism. Direct observation, professors, hospital wards, duration of clinical courses were considered as the most appropriate method, assessor, place and time to assess professionalism among medical students.Conclusion: a framework was designed in the study that included assessing factors, the best assessor and the most appropriate method, time and place in order to assess professionalism among medical students. On the condition that the shortcomings of the framework are corrected by further researches and localization, it could be used in other medical schools.

Background: Medical Laboratory plays a critical role in maintaining and promoting health. Increasing wide applications of laboratory medicine in clinical practice have highlighted specific topics in the areas of social, professional and ethical issues in the laboratory. Despite the important role of clinical lab in health system, ethical issues have been rarely discussed for clinical labs. Considering the need to provide efficient training program for students, this study was designed and conducted to assess the views of laboratory science educators about offering a professional ethical course in laboratory science curriculum.Methods: The study population was 28 laboratory science educators at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. A questionnaire was designed to assess instructors' views about the importance, quantity, quality, and the need to provide a professional ethical course for medical laboratory students.Results: The majority of respondents (82.15%) evaluated the importance of offering an ethical course for laboratory medicine to be at a very high level. Most educators (75%) believed that good clinical laboratory practice is extremely related to moral issues. Many lecturers (85.7%) completely agreed with the addition of professional ethical course for laboratory science students. Respondents (89.3%), also, believed that the educating professional ethical issues to medical lab students will enhance service quality and performance of the future laboratories. In addition, most professors suggested offering two credit points to cover such issues for the students (85.7%).Conclusion: We recommend offering a separate course in laboratory science curriculum to cover the clinical ethical issues, such as modality of taking samples, interaction with patients, the way of giving information about genetic tests, viral and malignancies, the way of storing data and access to medical records, the diagnosis of infertility, prenatal diagnosis, legal issues in poisonings, and the way of interacting with the doctor and medical private issues.

Background: the main purpose of medical education system is that the students achieve the highest levels of learning and professional competency. Training of skilled physicians is based on three domains including educational planning, environment, and psychological situation.Methods: Our study is a descriptive-analysis, conducted on 119 students including medical, nursing and midwifery groups at Islamic Azad university of Mashhad. The sampling was nonprobability and our research tools were general self-efficacy scale and Rosenberg self-esteem scale.Results: Among 119 samples, 26 were male and 93 were female. In accordance with discipline, 63, 38 and 18 were related to medical, obstetrics and nursing, respectively. Range of age was 18- 34, and the mean of age was around 23. Correlation of self-efficacy and self-esteem scores was significant. (P=0.0001), there was significant difference between general self-efficacy and sex, age and discipline.Conclusion: Data showed average scores of self-efficacy and there was difference among research groups. Thus, in order to improve, it is necessary to reevaluate the infrastructures, programming and education environment. In other words, it is mandatory to reevaluate mentioned factors to achieve higher self-efficacy among students, such as using new methods of teaching strategies and clinical assessment for educational aims.

Background: The purpose of the descriptive study was to investigate students' attitude, who attend their fifth and sixth years of study, about endodontics seminars using problem based learning method at Mashhad Dental School.Methods: It is a descriptive study conducted on fifth and sixth grade students of Mashhad Dental School in 2012- 2013 academic years. Data were gathered via questionnaire. Four three-hour seminars were held by one of endodontic staff; using problem based learning method (in the form of slide show and question/response). Each group contained 7-10 students. After testing the validity and reliability of questionnaires, the anonymous questionnaire was distributed among students at the end of morning and afternoon sessions. The students were supposed to answer and return the questionnaires to endodontic department. The results are presented through descriptive statistics.Result: According to the results of the study, satisfaction of fifth and sixth grade students from clinical seminars was higher than average (upper than 50%). Based on the conducted assessment, seminars improved students’ awareness about their weaknesses and strengths, professional knowledge, interest and attention.Conclusion: Based on the result of this study, it appears that seminars and discussions in small groups are useful in order to promote dental education.

Background: Problem-based learning is a student-centered teaching method that encourages students to become active learners in the classroom and to improve the learning processes.The aim of this study was to compare two methods of teaching, problem- based learning (PBL) and lecture-based learning, in an embryology course.Methods: This was a semi-experimental study conducted in Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences in 2012. Participants included a cohort of 42 medical students enrolled in an embryology course. Two different topics of embryology (veins and arteries) were taught using PBL and lecture methods to all participants. Both topics were compared regarding three items, students' participation, the clarity, interests and usefulness of the content taught, and the learning level (students' scores). Data analysis was performed via SPSS software.Results: Using PBL method, the students' concentration on the subject doubled. There were significant differences between the two methods regarding students' perceptions of clarity and usefulness of the content. There were no significant differences between mean scores of PBL method and lecture in learning level. Furthermore, there was no significant difference between interest rates.Conclusion: It could be concluded that when compared with lecture, PBL would increase students' concentration on the subject taught, the clarity of their understanding and their depth of learning. However, it does not seem to be the case in knowledge enhancement.

Background: One of the medical team's responsibilities is to teach the methods of rescue and aid necessary for casualties who have been injured in disasters. They must be taken away of the place of disaster, transferred, categorized and cured.Methods: Delphi technique was used in this research. Firstly, a number of questions were framed and sent to a number of experts of different majors. They were asked to present their recommendation with regard to triage for casualties. Eventually, 18 people replied the questions.Results: The results of the study shows that the members of triage team were not knowledgeable enough in three educational subjects of chemical casualties including: the recognition of chemical poisoning symptoms, the necessity to teach caring and curing methods while dealing with special factors that cause symptoms and disorders in different parts of the body, and the control of stress and anxiety of casualties in incidents.80% of the members agreed with the first part. Their recommendations and comments were collected. For the second subject, 90% believe that instructions should be developed for care and treatment. In third subject, 70% of the participants believed the use of chemical weapons and explosives is probable in incidents.Conclusion: Awareness of educational needs in relation with incidents and triage has considerable importance; in most cases it could rescue casualties. Therefore, paying attention to special educational issues and recognizing the weaknesses of the educational programs would provide appropriate strategies in order to enhance triage.

Background: General practitioners are the first who visit burn patients and they first calculate burn size and required fluid for the patient. Error in calculation can be disastrous. The purpose of this study is to compare four methods of estimating burn size to teach students.Methods: This is a descriptive-analytic study on 37 medical students. Four methods of estimating burn percentage was taught to all students. Students individually estimated four different burn wounds by Rule of nines, patient's palm, clinician's palm, and Lund-Browder chart. Students' results were recorded for the whole body and for organs separately. Data was analyzed by ANOVA test with repeated measures and by SPSS 16.Results: There was a significant difference in 4 methods of estimating burn wound size. Maximum standard deviation in estimation was in patient's palm method and minimum was in Lund-Browder chart method. Range of improper body surface burn size was 4 to 17 percent. There was a correlation between Lund-Browder chart and rules of nine methods. Wounds larger than 20% were underestimated. There was no significant relationship between the estimation of burn size with gender, average, and body mass index of the students.Conclusion: Considering that failing to use Lund-Browder chart in estimating burn size can decrease the effectiveness of treatment, it is essential to inform general physicians in continuing medical education courses about the importance of choosing the right method to estimate burn size.

Education is more than data and skills transfer; it is a developmental process for educators and students. However, sometimes in this process interactional problems emerge between the faculty and students that can be referred to as challenging behaviors. In these cases, the faculty must be familiar with these problematic phenomena and they must solve them with personal or group interventions, and make more pleasant classroom experiences both for students and faculty members (1).