Iranian Journal of Medical Education
Year:2002 | Volume:2 | Issue:1 (5)|Papers Count:9

Introduction. Nursing instructors, in addition to having faculty members' responsibilities such as teaching and doing research, offer community services as well. These responsibilities often cause great amount of job stresses for them. The purpose of this study was to determine the stressors in clinical and theoretical nursing education on nursing instructors.Methods. This descriptive-analytical study was performed using a questionnaire as data collecting tool. The research sample included 96 faculty members from nursing and midwifery faculties in Tehran who were selected by simple stratified sampling method.Results. The results of this study showed lack of preparation and educational experience in theoretical teaching, and heavy workload caused by teaching theoretical and clinical courses, administrative responsibilities and inequality feeling, in clinical teaching were the most stressful factors. Also, in theoretical teaching, large class size, working with faculties having different habits and values and keeping professional knowledge according to new sciences and professional development caused a high degree of stress. Moreover, providing sufficient individual supervision for each student, unclear policy regarding substitute instructor in time of sick leave or vacation and lack of preparation and experience, in clinical teaching were other stressful factors.Conclusion. Many factors in clinical and theoretical courses have been identified as stressors. It is recommended, theoretical nursing courses be taught as team teaching, and experienced instructors work with instructors with less experience. Also, educational programs should be planned in a way that nursing instructors with administrative responsibilities teach less theoretical and clinical courses.

Introduction. Encountering clinical environments as an inseparable part of studying medicine could bring about tension and anxiety for medical students. Early clinical exposure has been suggested in order to decrease these stresses and to motivate students for a better attitude and awareness. This study was performed to determine the effect of a short-term period of exposing to clinical environment on medical students attitude toward medical education and their future career.Methods. In an interventional study performed as pre-test/post-test, 45 first and second year medical students were encountered clinical environments in rounds, operating rooms, emergency wards and out patient clinics, under the supervision of a mentor. They experienced one night in emergency ward. Students, attitude was assessed by a questionnaire using Likert scale.Results. The score of attitude towards the effectiveness of medical education elevated (31%) at the end. While the score of attitude towards medical profession was 12% less than the first day. More positive change in attitude towards medical education was seen in women but this difference was not seen in attitude towards medical profession. 86% agreed or strongly agreed with necessity of this program for first year medical students. 96% thought that this course had motivated them to study more at school and the same rate said that this course made learning medicine more attractive and enjoyable. All of the students wanted to come to the hospital in the future, voluntarily. 65% mentioned that medical profession was more difficult than what they had thought. 35% agreed or strongly agreed that patients appeared different from what they had imagined before.Conclusion. This study clearly showed the effect of early exposure to clinical environment as a place for both education and patient care. Although the sample size and conditions of the study do not allow us to generalize the results to medical students' population, the intervention influenced a positive change in medical students' motivation for learning during their study years. It made them more aware of their future career.

Introduction. Today, computer and information technology serve an increasingly important role in medical education. Since the faculty members have an essential role in medical education, this study was designed to assess their knowledge, attitude and computer skills regarding the application of computer and information technology in medical education.Methods. A cross-sectional survey with stratified sampling method was carried out. 210 of the faculty members of all the faculties in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences completed a 60 item questionnaire which had three parts, each part including questions regarding attitude, knowledge and computer skills, respectively. Then the data was analyzed by SPSS software. Frequency distribution of all questions was calculated and also T-test, one way ANOVA, and Kruskal-Wallis were used for data analysis.Results. According to the results 97.3% of the faculty members believed computer had an important role in promoting their scientific activities. The mean of the faculty member's knowledge which indicated their skills in using computers' routine softwares, electronic mail and searching online articles and databases was calculated 10.84 based on 20 and with the standard deviation of 5.5. The faculty members used computer and internet about 7.8±7.2 and 6.4±5.9 hours per week, respectively. There was a significant difference between faculty members' knowledge in different faculties but in comparing their knowledge based on their ranks and degree, no significant difference was observed. The comparison of the hours of using computer in different faculties showed a significant difference between them.Conclusion. Most of the faculty members had a positive attitude towards the role of computer and internet in medical education but many of them lacked enough knowledge and skills in order to work with computer and internet. Therefore, it is necessary to take some measures in order to promote faculty members' knowledge and computer skills.

Introduction. Considering the improvement of teaching quality in higher education, this study was planned to evaluate the field training in the Faculty of Management and Medical Information by students. Its results will be used in planning field training for this faculty.Methods. A checklist with five variables was distributed among 57 students in this descriptive survey. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by content validity and test, re-test. Data analysis was done by SPSS software.Results. Student's self-assessment of their competences was significantly different in all three groups. A significant relationship was observed between students learning from their teachers and their competences in management training and using databases. There was also a significant relationship between their competence, and their self-study and assignments.Conclusion. According to the results of this study, revising practical training in some sections, increasing training hours and involving faculty members more in training seem to be necessary.

Introduction. The comprehensive basic science exam is the most important exam for medical students which can assess their capabilities in mastering general medicine. The experience has shown that the unsuccessful students face difficulties during later periods. This survey aims to determine the role of educational and demographic factors in basic sciences examination results. Methods. All the students who took the comprehensive exam (73 persons) participated in this descriptive-analytical study. In order to get the related factors, the score of the basic sciences courses, the result of the final basic sciences examination and the students’ demographic characteristics were obtained from their files. These data were ananlyzed by SPSS software and the Relative Risk of failing in comprehensive exam was determined.Results. Twenty students out of 73 failed the examination. The Relative Risk (RR) of failing in the final basic sciences examination for those who obtained bad mark in Histology, Immunology and Health 3 were 10.32, 4.55 and 4.11, respectively and were significant. The Relative Risk of failing for dormitory residents, students selected through Quota system and those who finished basic sciences in more than 5 semesters were 7.2, 3.4 and 3.1, respectively and were significant. Regression model showed that the important independent variables which correlated to our response variable were Embryology, Psychology, Physiology2, Histology and Microbiology.Conclusion. The variables such as quota system selection, the period of basic sciences, and residency in university dormitory have important roles in the results of basic sciences examination. The courses of Physiology 2, Microbiology, Histology and the variable of quota system selection, due to having large and significance Relative Risk, are the most important variables correlated to the score and result of the comprehensive exam.

Introduction. One of the most important activities of leadership and management in educational organizations is supervising instructor'’ performance. Supervision can be applied as administrative or clinical supervision. Administrative supervision is usually performed through official channels, and clinical supervision takes place using individuals' relationship and is based on promoting instructors’ professional personality and improving the quality of students learning. This study was designed to compare faculty members' viewpoints regarding the effect of administrative and clinical supervision on teaching-learning process.Methods. 135 faculty members of medical universities including medical university of Hamedan, Tehran, Shahid Beheshti and Isfahan who were selected by cluster sampling method, filled a questionnaire. The data was analyzed by SPSS software, using descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon test.Results. The mean of the scores of participants’ viewpoints about the effects of clinical supervision on improving the quality of teaching-learning was more than the mean of the scores concerning administrative supervision. Also, the participants evaluated the application of clinical supervision with regard to the researcher’s suggestions very useful in improving the quality of teaching- learning.Conclusion. The application of clinical supervision can improve the quality of student’s learning by developing and promoting teaching skills of the instructors and as a result increases the efficiency of educational system.

Introduction. The medical emergencies need not only clinical skills but also proper capabilities of the physicians. Meanwhile, researches show that young physicians are not properly trained to encounter the events threatening patients' lives. So, this study was designed to investigate the effect of an innovative emergencies course on clinical skills of medical students facing emergency patients.Methods. A semi-experimental interventional study was performed as pre-test/post-test in September 2002 in Ayatollah Kashany teaching hospital affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. The duration of the designed course was one month and had two theoretical and practical sections. Fifteen students who had passed internal medicine and surgery courses were chosen and divided into five groups. The students' attitude towards their capabilities to encounter emergencies was asked at the beginning and at the end of the course by questionnaires. Also, at the end, the students filled an attitude questionnaire regarding the whole course. The data was analyzed with Wilcoxon test. The mean and standard deviation were calculated.Results. In most fields except ear, nose and throat section (E.N.T.), students assessed their capabilities at the end of the course higher than before.Conclusion. This course was designed mostly on trauma emergencies. The result showed the positive effect of emergency medicine education in improving the self confidence and capabilities of medical students and revealed the need to include this course as a part of medical education.

Introduction. Due to the rapid development of information technology and world wide web, there is easy and fast access to medical information and medical journals. Although there is free and easy access to articles abstracts through Medline on the internet, accessing full text articles still remains a problem. This study was carried out to investigate the best way we could access full text of medical articles.Methods. In a descriptive study, the list of medical journals at three medical universities in Tehran was checked. Then, data was collected from free journal websites and document delivery services and the results were compared.Results. Iran University of Medical Sciences had a rich source with 3000 titles of medical journals and this number was 1300 and 1000 for Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, respectively.Conclusion. Regarding the results of this study, it is recommended to rely on our rich, easy to access and cost-effective resources and databases in the medical libraries rather than to subscribe expensive on-line journals. To achieve this, we need to establish a national inter-library loan system around the country.