Horizon of Medical Science Education Development
Year:2021 | Volume:12 | Issue:2|Papers Count:9

New attacks of microorganisms have occurred following coronavirus attacks across the world. Millions of people became infected or died during the pandemic. The daily lives of the people were influenced by the consequences on one side and health, economic, social, educational, political, and communicational areas experienced drastic changes on the other side. For this purpose, World Health Organization put on the agenda of social distancing, quarantine, and health protocols to reduce the consequences. On the other hand, the educational and research systems of universities were also affected by the situation. According to the health authorities' instructions, in-person education would be replaced with virtual and distance education and scientific meetings would be held through webinars and video conferences. They had strengths and weaknesses that need further investigation. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity for universities to take a different approach to deal with such incidents by integrating lessons learned in the pandemic and addressing weaknesses in education and research.

Introduction: Public health discipline is the basic branch of health sciences, whose graduates are responsible for providing, maintaining, and promoting public health. This study aimed to improve the quality and evaluate public health internship programs using the CIPP model Materials & Methods: This longitudinal study was performed on 38 students and instructors of public health using census sampling at Golestan University of Medical Sciences in 20192020. The research instruments included a questionnaire of demographic characteristics and an evaluation model based on the CIPP model. Descriptive statistics for quantitative and qualitative variables were used for data analysis. In each phase of the study, an independent ttest was used to examine the differences between groups using SPSS: 23. Results: No significant difference was found between the perspectives of online and offline students as well as the perspectives of students and instructors of the internship program for evaluating the quality of the internship program in the study phases (P>0. 05). Getting feedback from students, taking a special look at the Log Book, using educational aids, practicing skills, and setting the right time to present an internship program were the issues that should be considered by decision-makers, developers, and implementers of the internship program. Conclusion: Evaluation using the CIPP model, identified the strengths and weaknesses of the internship from the perspective of students and educators in each phase of the study. The CIPP evaluation model has the potential to guide policymakers and stakeholders to implement reforms in a curriculum for informed decision-making.

Introduction: It is helpful for everybody especially students to recognize, understand and reinforce emotional intelligence by which they can be more successful in their education. Academic motivation is considered as a component involved with enhancing academic achievement. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement and motivation. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 125 students of the paramedical faculty of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences in 2019. Barr's emotional intelligence and Harter's academic motivation questionnaires were used for study of emotional intelligence and academic motivation, respectively. Students' GPA (grade point average) was used as representative index for the academic achievement. Data were analyzed using ANOVA, independent t-test, and Spearman correlation coefficient by SPSS: 21. Results: significant and positive correlation was found between emotional intelligence, academic achievement, and academic motivation (p <0. 05). Demographic variables of age, gender, and year of entering the university did not affect students' academic achievement (p> 0. 05). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the higher an individual's emotional intelligence, the higher their academic motivation and the better their academic achievement. Therefore, it is necessary to improve students' emotional intelligence in the scientific and community environment with proper interventions.

Introduction: Due to the importance of training, organizations strive to provide opportunities for the growth and development of their employees, so that they can achieve their missions and goals. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to training employees to improve their performance and increase their efficiency. This study examines the quality of in-service educational services to employees working in comprehensive health centers in Mashhad. Materials & Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in October 2017. The statistical population included 1795 employees in comprehensive health service centers in Mashhad in all occupations. The research instrument included a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability were confirmed by experts. KolmogorovSmirnov test, spearman test, Wilcoxon test, and Mann-Whitney test were used to analyze the data. Results: a significant gap was found between the perceptions and expectations of the staff of comprehensive health centers in all five dimensions of the quality of in-service training services, i. e. tangible dimension (0. 95), confidence dimension (0. 94), accountability dimension (0. 85), guarantee dimension (0. 81) and the dimension of empathy (0. 74). The level of expectations was higher than perceptions. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that there is a gap between the perceptions and expectations of employees in all dimensions. It was also found that the largest gap was in the tangible and reliable dimension. Determining the gap in the quality of in-service educational services can be a good basis for planning, prioritizing, and deciding on the allocation of resources needed to improve education. it is suggested that city health centers allocate resources and try to solve problems and improve the quality of education. The dimensions with the most gaps should be given priority.

Introduction: Translation of research findings into the language of the audience and stakeholders is one of the most important parts of knowledge research. Knowledge transfer, indeed, is the method to use theoretical knowledge produced by universities to improve training processes and decisions based on observation. This study examines the status of knowledge translation among faculty members. Materials & Methods: The study population consisted of all faculty members of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 2019. The research tool was the Knowledge Translation Questionnaire, which has been compiled and approved by the Knowledge Translation Committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences whose validity and reliability of the questionnaire were also confirmed in the present study. Following the explaining, the objectives, data were collected using research tools that were completed by the faculty members and analyzed afterward. Results: As to the results, compared to the total average of each influential parameter in knowledge translation, the highest mean (3. 22) was related to the “ changing the behavior of decision-makers or achieving practical results through research results” and the lowest mean (3. 05), was related to “ generate evidence that can be used in decision making” . The mean of other effective factors of knowledge translation was between (3. 05-3. 22). Conclusion: Although some of the sub-factors show a favorable situation, none of the main parameters were in the expected situation.

Introduction: Sedentary lifestyle, poor mobility and decrease physical activity in people are considered as the consequences of mechanical life in the present century. As to the national studies, women are healthier than men in most areas. Regarding the important role of health system staff, especially health workers in the first level of referral, this study aimed to investigate the effect of education based on trans theoretical model and using the construct of stages of behavior change on the level of physical activity in female health workers of comprehensive rural health service centers in Mashhad 1 in 1398. Materials & Methods: In the present quasi-experimental study, 62 female (middle-aged) health workers working in health center number one in Mashhad were studied, of which 31 were assigned to the intervention group and 31 to the control group. Data were collected using The International Short-Term Physical Activity Questionnaire and the Marcus Questionnaire. Following data collection, the intervention group underwent educational intervention using the lecturequestion and answer method. SPSS software version 21 was used for data analysis. Results: The results showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of levels of physical activity and stages of behavior change before the training course (P> 0. 05), but a significant difference was found between the two groups following the training course. (P <0. 05). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that training using the metatheoretical model and stages of behavior change construct can improve the level of physical activity of employees to higher levels. Therefore, it can be effective in educational planning to promote physical activity behaviors in employees.

Introduction: Educational agents are screen characters that can influence learning outcomes and learner behaviors by playing different roles. Educational agents have been changed during the history from electronic performance support systems to tutoring systems and have moved towards human-like avatars; now, following the development of artificial intelligence and its usage in learning, they have called intelligent educational agents and have been regarded as one of the topics in the field of educational technology and can be used in teaching various sciences, including medicine. Materials & Methods: This study systematically reviewed the studies related to the roles of the educational agent and their impact from 2010 to 2019 in Science Direct, Springer, Google Scholar, and IEEEXplore databases. The included studies were all experimental studies written in English. The keywords of educational agent and pedagogical agent have been used to search articles. Results: Based on the search strategy and following deleting the items that either could not be accessed to the full version of the article or the abstract did not contain complete information, on one side and was not related to the research questions on the other side, 30 articles were reviewed. Findings showed that educational agents in different situations take on different roles such as coach, specialist, facilitator, motivator, feedback, etc., and these roles have a positive effect on learners' learning outcomes and behaviors. Conclusion: The educational factor can positively influence learning outcomes as well as learners' behaviors by taking on various roles such as feedback, motivator, facilitator, instructor, etc. Therefore, to design e-learning environments, it is necessary to use educational agents to improve the quality of learning.

Introduction: COVID‑ 19 pandemic has influenced educational systems across the world including Iranian higher education. To prevent educational disruption in Iranian medical universities, virtual education has been spread, as an alternative to conventional approaches to education. In the present study, the efficacy of the virtual education system in North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences from the viewpoints of faculty members and students has been evaluated. Materials & Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 115 faculty members and 354 students from different faculties were selected using a stratified random sampling method. Data were collected using a questionnaire with 8 components for evaluating virtual education systems including teaching-learning activities, flexibility, educational content and organization, interaction and feedback, users’ support, workload, and virtual system. Descriptive and analytic statistics were applied to analyze the data using the GraphPad Prism software. Results: The findings showed that all components of virtual education be semidesirable (scores were above mean score) from viewpoints of students and faculty members, except the component of interaction and feedback which were desirable (score was lower than the mean score). In addition, a significant difference was found between viewpoints of faculty members and students in all components of virtual education except the virtual education system. Conclusion: To increase the quality of virtual education, it is suggested to promote interaction and feedback between faculty members and students through making synchronous communication, enabling group learning activities, promoting active learning, and providing immediate feedback throughout the courses.

Introduction: Sedentary lifestyle, poor mobility and decrease physical activity in people are considered as the consequences of mechanical life in the present century. As to the national studies, women are healthier than men in most areas. Regarding the important role of health system staff, especially health workers in the first level of referral, this study aimed to investigate the effect of education based on trans theoretical model and using the construct of stages of behavior change on the level of physical activity in female health workers of comprehensive rural health service centers in Mashhad 1 in 1398. Materials & Methods: In the present quasi-experimental study, 62 female (middle-aged) health workers working in health center number one in Mashhad were studied, of which 31 were assigned to the intervention group and 31 to the control group. Data were collected using The International Short-Term Physical Activity Questionnaire and the Marcus Questionnaire. Following data collection, the intervention group underwent educational intervention using the lecturequestion and answer method. SPSS software version 21 was used for data analysis. Results: The results showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of levels of physical activity and stages of behavior change before the training course (P> 0. 05), but a significant difference was found between the two groups following the training course. (P <0. 05). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that training using the meta-theoretical model and stages of behavior change construct can improve the level of physical activity of employees to higher levels. Therefore, it can be effective in educational planning to promote physical activity behaviors in employees.