Future of Medical Education Journal
Year:2020 | Volume:10 | Issue:1|Papers Count:11

Background: The present study was done in order to evaluate the students’ clinical skill, enhance the quality of cares given, and consider limitations of common evaluation ways, as well as loss of texts about impact of new evaluation in education. The aim of this study was the impact of using direct observation of procedural skill (DOPS) evaluation method on some clinical skills of midwifery students. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 70 midwifery students in the delivery ward of Fatemieh Hospital in Hamadan during the first semester of 2017-2018. In this stage, the students in the control group were evaluated according to the current method of the faculty and the experimental group was evaluated by the DOPS method through a checklist. Finally, the evaluation scores of students were compared in both control and experimental groups. Results: According to T-test results, the average score in vaginal examination, Leopold maneuver and hearing fetal heart rate has been equal before doing the test (P>0. 05); however, after intervention the difference between the results obtained from these two groups was significant (P<0. 05). Then scores prior and after intervention in each group was compared through T-paired test. According to results of this test, before intervention, the difference within two groups were not significant but after intervention (p>0. 05), the scores have significantly increased in test group (P<0. 05). Conclusion: Findings showed that using DOPS evaluation way can be effective in enhancing clinical skills of midwifery students in vaginal examination; however, Leopold maneuver and hearing fetal heart rate are recommended for other procedures.

Background: The educational environment has a great impact on learners' success, satisfaction, personal well-being, progress, and their career choices. It is worth noting that inappropriate environments are supposed to be costly and financially negative. Evaluation of the educational environment is the best indicator for achieving high quality educational goals that analyze the educational activities in the academic system, so that it can provide logical and standard results. The purpose of this study was to determine the educational environment of Mashhad School of Nursing and Midwifery from the viewpoints of faculty members and educational professors, as well as to introduce an appropriate questionnaire to evaluate the educational environment from the teachers' point of view. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study. The study population was selected through census which included all teaching professors of Mashhad School of Nursing and Midwifery in year 2019 using demographic information questionnaire and Assessment of Medical Education Environment by Teachers questionnaire. For validity and reliability of questionnaires, 50 questions and six dimensions of teachers' perceptions of education, learning activities, students, learning environment, collaborative environment and self-professionalism were used. Stata software was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics including frequency, mean, and standard deviation were used to describe the collected data. Also Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used. Results: The mean score of faculty members and teachers' views on the educational environment was 118. 59± 20. 47 out of 200 that devoted the lowest and highest averages, respectively, to the perception of collaborative space and perception of education. Conclusion: The results showed that the faculty members evaluated the educational environment in the faculty more positively. Also using the AMEET questionnaire could be very helpful in the process of identifying the learning environment accurately. Furthermore, examining the educational environment and more careful plannings seem necessary to improve the educational situation.

Medical management is a team work (1) which shares knowledge in medical field, enhances the level of physician information, and leads to improve the quality of care (2). Having enough medical knowledge is required for making the best decision for patients (3). In this regard, physician’ s information varies by experience, skill and literacy, (4)(5) as well as the exchange of information improves the quality of treatment for patients. (6) It is reasonable that failure to exchange information results in miss-diagnosis, improper treatment, and compromises the quality of care (7). . .

Background: Health care providers are considered as a group of primary health service workers increasing their scientific and practical ability. Providing an effective and desirable teaching is one of the main ways to improve the quality of services; however, this will be possible by selecting an appropriate training method. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine the effect of teaching the principles of caring for pregnant mothers on knowledge and health care providers' performance with on-site and non-attendance methods. Methods: This study was conducted as an interventional and semiexperimental study in 2017-2018. Sixty four health care providers were enrolled in Mashhad's health center. They were randomly divided into two groups of 32. For the non-attendance group, the educational package contents were prepared in the form of PowerPoint slides consisting texts and images. For the on-site teaching group, the participants were taught in lecture for six hours. The amount of knowledge of health care providers was assessed before and after training by using a written test questionnaire and their performance at work was controlled by a checklist Results: By comparing the scores before and after the educational intervention, the difference in mean scores in the on-site group was 4. 50 ± 0. 334 and in the non-attending group was 3. 77 ± 0. 332. This difference in the values in each group was significant. The difference between the mean post-test scores in the two groups was 0. 70 ± 0. 463. The difference in the mean of functional scores with two types of training was determined 17. 1 ± 0. 246, and no significant difference was found for the groups (p = 0. 496). Conclusion: In this study, the increase in the level of health care information was acceptable. Both methods had the same effect in the cognitive and functional domain. Therefore, the method of using the educational package can be a good alternative to the lecture method.

Background: The emergence of electronic technologies has revolutionized teaching-learning process. One of these technologies is mobile learning. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of education by mobile learning on learning and retention of nursing students in English teaching. Methods: The research design for this study was a pretest-posttest with a control group. The study population included all nursing students (about 130 people) in the academic year 2014-2015 in Shahrekord Nursing faculty. Thirty people were selected through convenience sampling method and were randomly assigned into an experimental and a control group. The instruments used were learning test (pretest-posttest learning with face validity approved by teachers and reliability of Cronbach’ s Alpha 0. 83) and retention test (with face validity approved by teachers and reliability of Cronbach’ s Alpha 0. 79). The tests were based on English lessons' content. Results: The obtained data were analyzed by independent t-test and SPSS software version 18. The results showed that training based on mobile teaching enhances learning and retention of nursing students' English language. Conclusion: Considering the results, education policy makers are recommended to use mobile technologies in teaching English.

Background: Faculty members are one of the main elements of the university, and their performance plays a critical role for the overall efficiency of the educational system. This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the status of effective components on the evaluation of faculty members of Birjand University of Medical Sciences and its association with the faculties’ demographic characteristics. Methods: This is a descriptive-analytic study. The population comprised all faculty members of Birjand University of Medical Sciences (n = 278) in the academic year 2017-2018. All members were included using the census method. The faculty evaluation software program was used to collect data. The information obtained from the faculty evaluation form, consisting of 15 components, was extracted and analyzed using the Sama system software. The validity of the form was confirmed by experts, and its reliability was computed using the Cronbach’ s alpha method as 0. 82. Data analysis was performed using SPSS-18 software, and the significance level was set at p <0. 05. Results: In the present study the participants were 144 (48%) women and 155 (52%) men. The maximum evaluation score of the faculties was 5, and the mean total evaluation score was 4. 49 ± 0. 29. There was no significant difference between the average evaluation status of faculty members based on their gender and academic degree. However, the evaluation scores were significantly different in terms of academic rank (p <0. 001). Conclusion: Directing attention to teaching behavior and performance in the classroom can be an effective strategy to enhance the performance of faculty members. Therefore, it seems necessary to empower faculties (more specifically, lower-level teachers) in terms of effective teaching methods and teacherstudent communication skills.

Background: It is over 50 years that the introducing of futures studies has been started; however, the number of such studies in medical education seems to be very limited. Familiarization with futures studies can have a positive effect on the application of these studies in medical education as well. The present study was performed to Review and synthesize the best existing evidence in the literature that addresses the question, "What are the most effective futures studies approaches in medical education"? Methods: Based on Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) guidelines, a review of PubMed, Scopus, Educational Resource Information Center, Web of Science, and Google Scholar (1976– 2019), was conducted with the search strategy of "futures studies" OR "future studies", "Medical education", and "approach OR method". Hand searching and grey literature search were also used. According to inclusion criteria, all abstracts and papers were screened by pairs of reviewers. Using the presage process product (3P) model, analyzing and synthesizing the included studies were performed. Results: From screening 1533 abstracts, 7 articles met the inclusion criteria. A wide range of futures studies methods have been introduced for medical education, but the most commonly used methods were different types of scenarios. Conclusion: Using different forms of scenario was the most used method in future studies in medical education. The variety and breadth of future studies in medical education call for a more specific and limited number of methods to be undertaken in this field.

Background: One of the main purposes of educational centers is improving and developing the students' academic performances. Study habits are the source of academic performance and are important in students' academic achievement. This study was done to investigate the study habits among the first and last semester students of paramedical sciences school. Methods: This present descriptive-analytical study was carried out on the students of Mashhad Paramedical Sciences School who were studying in the academic year of 2016-2017. The study population included 164 undergraduate students studying in the first and last semesters, and finally 154 questionnaires were analyzed. The data were collected using study habits questionnaire (PSSHI). Data were analyzed by SPSS version 21 software, as well as data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, frequency distribution) and independent T-Test. Results: In this study, the majority of the students were female (78. 9%) and they were not married (85. 4). The twelve percent of the participants were studying for the exam only during the semester, 56 (37. 3%) students in their semester break, and 76 (50. 7%) at the exam night. The mean score of study habits of students was 42 out of a maximum score 90 and was in an average level. There was also a significant relationship between the domains of study habits of students and their gender (P=0. 0001). The study condition was better for the students studying in the morning (mean 45± 10). The mean score of learning motivation in male and female students were 6. 2 and 5. 7, respectively, and the mean score of study physical condition were 7. 9 and 6. 7 out of 12, respectively. Conclusion: The study habits of the students of paramedical sciences school were at an average level, which were` far from the desired condition. Due to the importance of study habits in academic performance and academic achievement, also considering the significant effect of academic performance on a person's job and academic future, attention and planning will be essential in order to improve the students' study habits and practices.

Background: Patients' right in the field of health services plays an important role in physician – patients’ relationship and is an important factor in health system management. Empathy and communication skills are nowadays one of the important issues in the field of treatment. Professional ethics are also an intrinsic part of the medical profession, and it is important to consider the components that influence professional ethics. The aim of this study was to determine the level of empathy and the relationship between these two components with respect to professional ethics. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 3 levels of clinical students by consensus sampling in Jahrom University of Medical Sciences. Data gathering included demographic information form, revised communication skills questionnaire, interpersonal reactivity index (empathy), and the questionnaire of compliance with professional ethics standards. Communication skills questionnaire consisted of 34 items in a 5-point Likert scale. The interpersonal reactivity index consisted of 28items and 5-degree spectrum, and the professional ethics criteria questionnaire consisted of 31 questions in a five-option Likert scale. Results: The highest average in assessing compliance with professional ethics was in the domain of patient care with a value of 27. 30 ± 4. 8; the highest average in the communication skills was in the domain of regulating emotions with a value of 24. 04 ± 3. 32, and in the area of empathy it was related to personal distress skill with a value of 17. 26 ± 6. 9. Based on the results of regression analysis, it was determined that empathy could significantly predict communication skills (p=0. 0001). Also there are correlation between empathy and some sub domains in communication skills and compliance with professional ethics. Communication skills correlated to compliance of professional ethics. All of them was significant (p<0. 05). Conclusion: Considering empathy as a human skill in medical care and its relationship with communication skills and compliance with ethical codes, it is necessary to train these skills in workshop programs to improve students’ knowledge and practice about them.