Journal of Advances in Medical Education & Professionalism
Year:2020 | Volume:8 | Issue:2|Papers Count:8

Introduction: Students’ engagement during the collection of attendance (SEdCA) is a method where students write the answer to a question related to the topic of preceding 1-h lecture. Then, attendance is recorded by the teacher from the answer sheets. This method was introduced primarily to overcome difficulty in recording attendance from a class of high attendance. Its potential formative assessment capability has not yet been ascertained. With this background, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the application of SEdCA as a method of formative assessment on the academic performance of first-year medical students. Methods: This interventional, uncontrolled, before and after study was conducted on 93 first-year medical students. Part completion test (PCT) scores in anatomy before the application of SEdCA was considered as the pre-intervention academic performance. Then, 1-h lectures were designed according to SEdCA for a period of 3 months. The next PCT scores were taken as postintervention performance and compared with the pre-intervention performance using paired t-test with α =0. 05. Results: Ninety-three (female=38, male=55) first-year medical students with a mean age of 17. 65± 0. 88 years participated in the study. There was a significant increase in theory (23. 74± 5. 67 versus 26. 40± 5. 17, t=3. 31, P<0. 001), practical (21. 43± 6. 60 versus 24. 08± 5. 16, t=6. 95, P<0. 001), and total (45. 17± 11 versus 50. 47± 9. 17, t=8, P<0. 001) scores in the post-intervention PCT. Conclusion: SEdCA may be applied to enhance the academic competency of first-year medical students. However, its impact should be evaluated further in multiple subjects in students of different years of study in more institutes for a generalized result.

Introduction: Clinical reasoning is a vital aspect of physician competence. It has been the subject of academic research for decades, and various models of clinical reasoning have been proposed. The aim of the present study was to develop a theoretical model of clinical reasoning. Methods: To conduct our study, we applied the process of theory synthesis in accordance with the Walker and Avant’ s approach. First, we considered clinical reasoning as a focal concept of our study. Second, a search was carried out for the period 1984– 2018, using the PubMed, Google Scholar, PsycINFO, ERIC, ScienceDirect and Web of Science databases to review the literature to identify factors related to the clinical reasoning and the nature of their relationships. Third, we organized clinical reasoning into an integrated and efficient representation of the clinical reasoning. Results: According to this study clinical reasoning is the iterative process of intermediation between the recalled clinical knowledge and the patient’ s represented problem in the clinicians’ active memory. We analogize the process of clinical reasoning to the process of closure of a cognitive zipper. The recalled knowledge in clinician’ s memory resembles to one side of zippers teeth and the evolving representation of the patient’ s problem resembles the other side of zippers teeth. So, the results of this study are presented in three models: [1] multi-layer knowledge structure model, [2] problem representation model and [3] cognitive zipper model of diagnostic reasoning. Conclusion: We propose a developmental model of clinical reasoning. Several studies have tried to present models and theories to clarify clinical reasoning, but it seems that these theories and models could only explain part of this complex process and not the whole process. Cognitive zipper model, due to its developmental structure, can illustrate the clinical reasoning process in more details than other models do.

Introduction: The widespread developments of the twentyfirst century have been accompanied by the presentation of intellectual patterns and theories and new achievements. These new achievements emphasize the skill of thinking at high levels, especially in the educational system of universities. This skill is essential for medical students; therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the qualitative barriers of critical thinking in medical students’ curriculum. Methods: This is a qualitative study in which the content analysis method has been used. Participants of this study included 11 medical education experts and medical students (6 females and 5 males) who were selected through a semi-structured interview and purposeful sampling. The data analysis method was conventional content analysis. In the next part, by more investigation of the data, various obtained concepts will be presented in the form of themes, categories, and subcategories. Results: We obtained two themes (socio-cultural conditions and traditional and unchanging system of education), eight categories and 14 subcategories. Also, these categories were resistance to critical society, intellectual tension, personality characteristics, lack of understanding of society’ s need for criticism, the rule of traditional teaching pattern, lack of critical thinking skills, ineffective evaluation, and difficulty of critical thinking training. Conclusion: Given the results and the main emphasis of curriculum planners on incorporating high-level critical thinking and revision skills into the curriculum, the country’ s academic education system requires a change in the thinking style, research, deepening critical thinking, and a change in teachers’ attitudes toward curriculum designing (goals, content, teaching and evaluation methods); also, it is suggested that the authorities should pay attention to the need to develop and utilize critical thinking skills in the learners’ education.

Introduction: The internet is an essential and widely used tool for college students; however, high internet dependency can have negative consequences for students, especially regarding academic careers. Such students may tend to postpone their academic tasks. Hence, the current study examines the effect of Internet addiction on academic procrastination among medical students. Methods: We applied a cross-sectional correlational research design. 233 medical students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences were selected through convenience sampling and participated in this study. To collect the data, we used two valid and reliable questionnaires. The first was Young’ s Internet addiction questionnaire (IAT-20), which consists of 20 items based on a 5-point Likert-type scale. The second was Solomon and Rothblum academic procrastination questionnaire, which consists of 18 items based on a 5 point Likert-type scale. We used Pearson correlation, independent T-test, and One-Way ANOVA to analyze the data in SPSS version 22, and considered a significance level of P<0. 05. Results: Results showed that 57. 1% of the respondents were females, and the remaining were males. Findings indicated that 8 (3. 43%) of the participants were classified as severe internetaddicted, and 28. 85% of them had a high level of academic procrastination. The results indicated that there was a positive and significant correlation between Internet addiction and academic procrastination (r=0. 39, with P<0. 01). Also, there was a positive correlation between academic procrastination dimensions (writing a term paper, studying for an exam, keeping up with weekly reading assignments, performing administrative tasks, attending meetings and performing academic tasks in general) and Internet addiction (r=0. 22, r=0. 32, r=0. 21, r=0. 29, r=0. 33, and r=0. 23, respectively, with P<0. 01). Finally, the results revealed that male students and those living in the dormitory had a higher level of Internet addiction and procrastination compared to female ones and those living at home (P<0. 01). Conclusion: The findings of the current research reveal that a considerable number of students have levels of Internet addiction and procrastination; the study highlights that students with high levels of Internet addiction are more likely to be at an increased risk of negative outcomes such as insufficiently controlled Internet use.

Introduction: As health professionals, physicians are accountable for their professional practice. The aim of this study was to explain the medical students’ motivation to attain social accountability in medical schools, based on the experience of both students and faculties. Methods: We conducted a qualitative conventional content analysis research in Shiraz University of medical sciences in Iran since 2018 through purposive, snowball sampling. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 35 participants i. e., medical students and teachers. Coding was carried out by conventional content analysis. Results: We drew four themes and ten related subthemes and the central variable explains the motivation of medical students toward social accountability and makes a link among the subthemes, was purposeful beliefs and behavior. The key dimensions during motivational process which generated the social accountability development in medical students consisted of social culture of medicine, medical school reality, teaching and learning strategy and creating purposeful beliefs and behavior. Also, eight subthemes of individual motivation, content motivation process motivation, attending to the outcomes of the curriculum, traditional routine centered curriculum, observational learning, role modeling, hidden curriculum, respect for social values and norms and benefitting the society emerged which explain the process of motivate for social accountability by creating purposeful beliefs and behavior in medical students. Conclusions: The core variable of motivation toward social accountability must be reflected in future developmental programs, curriculum planning and training general physicians. In other words, the best efforts for purposeful beliefs and behavior in medical students, must be made to improve motivation toward social accountability.

Introduction: There is a paucity of literature on research output of Australasian interns. We have previously shown great interest among interns rotating in our department to publish or present their findings from an audit or research project (ARP). The aim of this study was to examine the output of the intern ARP. Methods: ARP titles over a five-year period were searched in academic databases. We compared the output rate from our institution to a rate estimated a priori from previously published literature. Results: A total of 186 ARPs were conducted over the study period. Of these, only two were published (one original article and one letter) and one was presented at a national conference. The observed productivity rate was significantly lower than that of the estimated rate (χ 2 =4. 49, P=0. 034). Conclusion: Despite potential limitations, our study remains the largest study to report on intern research productivity in Australasia. It provides evidence of the need for improvement in and encouragement of research conducted by junior doctors.

Dear Editor: In the contemporary era, any healthcare organization needs to shape up its own management culture. This includes developing vision statement and utilizing the available resources in order to ensure the optimal level of satisfaction to its stakeholders. It has been found that the quality of healthcare services in an organization and leadership traits are directly proportional to the staff satisfaction and concurrently to patient satisfaction (1). . .

Dear Editor: We are witnessing a paradigm shift in educational technologies due to the disruptions in academics as a result of COVID-19 outbreak. Educators across the world have begun to use technology-based applications or “ justin-time” instructional strategies to an extent never seen before. Such instructional strategies are intended to implement the curriculum in the absence of a physical classroom. However, they do not emphasize the design of instructional material used in it or the mastery of information by learner per se (1). The ultimate goal of medical education is to cause changes in behaviour through gaining information. It is vital to understand how the student’ s memory handles the information load imposed by online instruction format and extent of information retention.