سال:1397 | دوره: | شماره: |تعداد مقالات:8

Introduction: The portfolio can be seen as a tool for assessment of a variety of learning activities that differ in content, usage, and assessment. The portfolio not only meets the learner’ s educational needs but also the political and public reassurance demand that the health professional has achieved the required competency of the curriculum that allows him or her to practice safely with or without supervision in the health organization. Methods: An in-depth search on Google Scholar, Medline and PubMed was conducted using the terms “ reflection and portfolio” with especial emphasis on undergraduates. All the manuscripts collected were critically reviewed regardless of the date of publication. Results: Even though the systematic review showed the limited effect of the educational impact of the portfolio on the undergraduate, numerous benefits can be seen, e. g. improvement in the relationship between students and tutors, an increase in general knowledge, awareness and reflection. Reflection for medical undergraduates in portfolio per se was associated with improvement in communications skills, professionalism and better achievement in postgraduate studies and increase in experiential learning. Interestingly, the portfolio was shown to be useful for undergraduate and tutors in filling the gaps of learning in clinical surgery, urology and geriatric medicine. In addition, for dental and nursing students it was associated with an increase in professionalism, clinical competency, and self-confidence. Lack of integration of reflection throughout the curriculum of the medical school was considered one of the main problems. Conclusion: Further research is needed to address the following questions (i) it will be of interest to assess if there is any difference in reflective portfolio between students from problembased learning (PBL) curriculum and those from traditional curriculum. (ii) Assess the difference in reflective portfolio between community-oriented and PBL curriculum and PBL and traditional curriculum (iii) if there is any difference in the reflective portfolio in these three curriculums, it will be of interest how this can alter the evidence base of the educational effects of the portfolio. In other words, is there any curriculum that will consistently produce evidence based educational effects of the portfolio?

Introduction: Classroom management is leading the class by setting the class schedule, organizing the procedures, supervising the learners’ progress, and predicting and solving their problems. Students’ disruptive behaviors and classroom management are the most important challenges and concerns of the teachers. The current review aimed to analyze the classroom management techniques and strategies used to cope with the students’ disruptive behaviors. Methods: The present study was systematic review. The articles in Science Direct, PubMed and Scopus databases and Google Scholar search engine were searched using the keywords of classroom management, students’ disruptive behaviors, difficult students, and confrontation strategies during 2000-2017. A total of 31 articles were included in the study for analysis. Results: The results showed all the techniques and strategies used and teachers’ challenges in dealing with students’ disruptive behaviors were included in conflict management strategies, which were classified into three categories, i. e. cooperative and problem solving strategies, avoidance strategies and punishment strategies. Moreover, the studies mostly emphasized the use of cooperative and problem solving strategies, and the most highlighted methods were making effective mutual communication with students to correct their negative behavior, training and preparing the teachers for dealing with the students’ disruptive behaviors and using various teaching methods and approaches based on the classroom situation. Conclusion: To cope with the challenges of students’ disruptive behaviors, the teachers can use different strategies. Also, sufficient knowledge and skills about teaching, familiarity with the relevant and influential disciplines in dealing with students and making effective communication in the class can be helpful in developing and enjoying more effective skills in classroom management.

Dear Editor, Extracurricular activities for the gifted and talented students in Iran derive from the belief that students with high potentials are expected to make great help for the health care of the community. One of these activities is holding medical science Olympiads. . . .

Introduction: Medical schools face increasing challenges to accommodate new health care needs. However, little has changed regarding the students’ education. In addition, educators face the challenge of improving their teaching approach, making it suitable and effective for the new generation. The purpose of this work was to describe and contextualize the application of active pedagogical methodologies using the virtual learning environment (VLE) as a tool to improve the students’ performance. Methods: This research is a quantitative and qualitative case study, carried out in one faculty of medicine in the state of Amazonas. Given a total population of senior students in this faculty, the number of participants corresponds to a proportion of 75% in the period of two years. This work required a paradigm shift, by focusing on interactive and technological teaching, professionalism, mentoring, communication, and feedback. Courses using virtual learning environment (VLE) should be prone to interaction, dialogue, collaboration and, asynchronously, autonomy. One of the key aspects of VLE content production is to select appropriate subject matters and texts to be discussed. It is through the VLE contents that the mediation of knowledge construction process and the participants’ interaction takes place. Results: The improvement over the pre-test evaluation was evident, ranging between 12. 59 and 50. 9%, depending on the subject matter, to 81. 31% in the final evaluation. In addition, the students expressed consistently positive opinions regarding the use of VLE. Conclusion: The use of VLE as a pedagogical tool, in an interactive format and appropriate to the transmission of information and knowledge construction, was adequate for an evident improvement in the cognitive performance of the senior students of medicine. In addition, the positive evaluation of the students regarding the pedagogical methodology used constitutes an added value of this approach.

Introduction: Virtual reality is a new method for training different medical groups. Based on this technology, professionals and students of various medical sciences can determine their level of competence for medical treatment before any performance on the patient. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the applications of virtual reality technology for training the medical groups. Methods: This is a scoping review study conducted in 2016. Articles were retrieved through the search of related keywords in databases such as Pub Med, Scopus, Web of Sciences, Springer, and Google scholar. Then, after applying the entry criteria, 21 papers were selected from a total of 1343. Data extraction was done by a data collection form. The collected data were summarized and reported using content analysis technique according to the study purpose. Results: The findings of the study indicated that 11 cases (48%) have used virtual education technology for laparoscopic surgery training. Using virtual reality has improved learning in 17 (74%) studies. A higher accuracy in medical practice by people trained through VR has been reported in 20 (87%) studies. Conclusion: The results indicate that the application of virtual reality capabilities plays an important role in improving the performance of different medical groups. According to the results, it can be suggested that virtual reality capabilities should be used to train different medical groups based on their individual and collective needs.

Introduction: Nowadays according to competency based curriculum, selecting an appropriate assessment method is inevitable. This study aimed to investigate application of Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS) in undergraduate medical students. Methods: This is a cross sectional study conducted during emergency ward rotation in last year medical students using consensus sampling method. Each student performed 2 procedures at least twice under the observation of 2 assessors using modified DOPS rating scales designed for each procedure simultaneously. Correlation between DOPS score and final routine exam was measured. Face and content validity was determined by the panel of experts. Moreover, through the test-retest and interrater reliability, the correlation of each score and total score was investigated. The spent time was calculated too. The statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 18. Results: Totally 60 students did 240 procedures under DOPS. The face and content validity confirmed by an expert panel. The findings showed that there was a significant correlation between the scores of each test and the total DOPS score (r1=0. 736**, r2=0. 793**, r3=0. 564**, r4=0. 685**; p<0. 001). There was a significant correlation between the first and second scores of doing the same procedure (Pearson Cor. =0. 74, p<0. 001) and also between the scores of the two individual examiners when observing the same procedure (Pearson Cor. =0. 84-0. 94, p<0. 001). The results showed that there was no correlation (Pearson Correlation=0. 018, p<0. 89) between the scores of this test and the final routine ward exam scores. The average time for doing DOPS test and the average time for providing feedback were 11. 17± 7. 5 Max and 9. 2± 4. 5 Min, respectively. Conclusion: The use of novel performance assessment methods such as DOPS is highly beneficial in order to ensure the adequacy of learning in medical students and assess their readiness for accepting professional responsibilities. DOPS as a practical and reliable test with acceptable validation can be used to assess clinical skills of undergraduate medical students.

Introduction: The standardized Patient Program (SPP) is a standard educational training method which provides the preclinical students a better clinical foundation by linking the realm of clinical medicine to basic sciences. It incorporates a modern simulation technique and enhances the ability of the students wherein they can practice, apply and learn the basics of patient encounter. The main objective of this study was to analyze the implementation and efficiency of the SPP in Avalon University School of Medicine (AUSOM). Methods: A quasi-experimental “ before-and-after” study design was conducted among the 3rd Semester (MD3) medical students at AUSOM. 24 students voluntarily participated in the study. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated after comparing the summative examination scores before and after implementation of the SPP (graded in 100 points system). Mean scores were calculated and a comparison of the change in scores was made, using a paired t-test in Stata (© Stata corp). Results: The mean final summative clinical skills examination scores of the students before and after the introduction of the SPP were 78. 46± 6. 62 (SEM: 1. 35, range: 89-70) and 86. 54± 6. 41 (SEM: 1. 31, range: 98-65), respectively. There was a statistically significant increment (t=5. 5058, p=0. 0001) in the scores of the students after the introduction of the SPP. Conclusion: Introduction and implementation of SPP at AUSOM at preclinical years increased the overall students’ performance in clinical skills. It is necessary that medical schools implement SPP early in preclinical years to strengthen learning and inoculate necessary clinical skills in medical students.

Dear Editor, Re-Orientation of Medical Education (ROME), a one month posting of undergraduate students in department of Community Medicine, is used not only to build up the knowledge, attitude, communication and clinical skills, but also to make the physician in contact with the community efficiently. In 1977, the ROME scheme aimed at developing medical doctors for the rural community in the vision of medical education, which later envisaged training a basic doctor to serve better at the first contact with rural and urban community (1, 2). During the posting, the students conducted house to house survey in rural and urban communities and prepared a detailed report of the research activities and planned intervention based on the needs of the community. . . .