Iranian Journal of Medical Education
Year:2013 | Volume:13 | Issue:5 (55)|Papers Count:13

Introduction: Today modern teaching and learning approaches in medical education have received considerable attention. This paper aims to introduce WebQuest as a new method of inquiry-based learning through the use of Internet. Also its application in medical sciences education in general, and especially nursing education is explained.Methods: To find articles related to the WebQuest topic, the popular databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Nursing Consult, CINAHL, Web of Knowledge were searched using WebQuest related keywords. Very few medical articles were found, and there was no research article published in Iran.Results: WebQuest is a new method of student-centered, inquiry-based learning which uses computer technology to engage and motivate students individually or collaboratively in exploring, analyzing, and synthesizing data to construct a new understanding or meaning. WebQuests, as a student-centered activity, enhance and facilitate higher order cognitive skills, including analysis, synthesis, evaluation and judgment, critical thinking. They also cultivate students’ exploratory and problem solving mentality.Based on constructivist learning theory and inquiry learning, WebQuests involve learners in collaborative learning process and group projects. There is a strong link between WebQuests and multi-media techniques which provide significant opportunity for utilizing internet resources in teaching and learning experiences.Conclusion: It seems the concept of WebQuest is still less known both general and higher education, and particularly in medical education in Iran. Introducing this method in medical education which is based on new approaches of teaching and learning processes can provide a different view and encourage students to learn more effectively, deeply, and indelibly.

Introduction: Student assessment is of the most important responsibilities of a clinical teacher. Application of new methods of assessment is necessary due to significant improvement in clinical teaching methods. In the meantime, new assessment approaches that simultaneously enforce learning have been greeted more than other methods. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare the new methods (Mini-CEX and DOPS) with traditional method of assessment on the clinical skills of nursing internships students in Army University of Medical Science.Methods: This study is a randomized trial which was carried out on nursing students of Army University of Medical Science. All eligible students and instructors willing to take part were randomly divided into two groups of experiment and control. After training the instructors and assessing the reliability of evaluators, three rounds of assessments were performed using DOPS and Mini-CEX for experiment group while control group was evaluated using the routine method. Evaluation of procedures (Vein puncturing, dressing up, report writing, and patient education) in each group was based on valid and reliable check-lists made by the researcher. Results were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square and independent T tests).Results: There was no significant difference between groups regarding demographic variables such as age, gender, and average (p<0.05). The mean scores of final assessments in the experiment group (by Mini-CEX and DOPS methods) were significantly (p=0.000) higher than the control one (traditional method). In other Conclusion: It seems that applying Mini-CEX and DOPS methods resulted in improvement of clinical skills among students. Accordingly, it is recommended that nursing education centers apply these two methods to assess students’ clinical skills in conjunction with other methods, to help promote their learning.

Introduction: It is a long time that educational activities have been used to improve pregnant women’s lives and keep them healthy. This research aims at interpreting pregnant women’s experiences of maternal health education who visited maternal care center, according to the 12 principles of Vella’s dialogue education.Methods: This content analysis qualitative study was conducted in a health clinic in Tehran province. A purposive sample of 15 pregnant women was selected. An interview guide and an observation checklist were used to collect data. Interviews were coded and categorized in predetermined categories.Results: According to experiences of pregnant women visiting the maternal care center, all the 12 principles in general and especially 4 of them were less observed. These include: formation of a sound relationship, need assessment, safety, and clear roles. The principle of sound relationship including humility, patience, and respect by instructor, his/her accountability for immediate response to learners’ questions, spending enough time for education should be considered strongly. Moreover, improvement of prenatal education depends on pregnant women’s need assessment before education, providing safety during education, defining the new role of midwife throughout education for target group, and clarifying the parthnership role of men in pregnancy period.Conclusion: In addition to providing a stronger recognition about the manner of holding educational sessions in maternal care center, supplying a comprehensive definition about experiences of employing twelve principles of Vella’s Dialogue Education this study has efforted to underlie steps toward reducing the failures in this path. However Vella has not pointed to the “patience” as a requisite in formation of a sound relationship, findings of the study shows tht this construct is a necessary factor for formation of a firm relationship in Iran.

Introduction: University counseling centers, as a section of vice chancellery for students and cultural affairs, serves for improving students’ physical and psychosocial well-being. The purpose of this study was to investigate students’ problems making them attend counseling centers in Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences.Methods: In a descriptive correlation study, the students’ problems making them visit counseling centers of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Science were reviewed for a year interval (2011-2012). The data was extracted from the records (647 student files) in the counseling centers using a form and a database was developed. Descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (chisquare test, independent t test, and Pearson correlation coefficient) were used in data analysis.Results: Out of 3200 students in the university, 647 (20%) visited University Counseling Centers at least once. Visitors were mostly female students (73.13% vs.26.87%, X2=12.92 and p=0.02). The frequency of causes bringing students to counseling center were: educational and academic problems for 164 (25.6%) students, psychological-emotional problems in 140 (21%), personal problems in 140 (21.7%), marital problems in 133 (20.7%), and family problems in 67 (10.4%). The chi-square analysis indicated that significant differences exist among the causes for referring students by sex, marital status, and not being Ahwaz inhabitant (p<0.05).Conclusion: Less than a quarter of students had attended counseling centers and these visits were mostly due to educational and psycho-emotional problems. Therefore it is recommended to continuously assess students’ counseling needs and conduct workshops to help resolve their most prevalent problems.

Introduction: Scientific research in the medical sciences is known as a basic necessity for professional development which leads to clinical improvement. This study aims to compare the barriers to research activities among students of Arak University of Medical Sciences and provide proper strategies for student research management.Methods: This analytical comparative study was carried out in year 2012 on 325 students of Arak University of Medical Sciences. Non-researcer students were selected through stratified sampling while researcher students were selected by census. Data was collected using two researcher-made questionnaires classified using Likert scale that compared barriers existing in institutional and individual area. The scores given to these barriers were compared to those found by similar studies in 25 published articles. Strategies for improving student research management were validated using the Delphi technique. Validity and reliability of the questionnaires were confirmed and data was analyzed using ANOVA and t-test.Results: According to the viewpoints of researcher students, mean score for barriers in instutional area was (3.32±2.14) and according to non-researcher students, mean score for existence of barriers in individual area was (3.68±1.98) which is considered high. The highest barrier scores belonged to the lack of of trained research assistants (4.35±1.3), no application of research outcomes in the community (4.25±.9), and students’ unfamiliarity with digital library (4.31±1.5). The mean score of institutional barriers given by nonresearcher students was significantly different among different schools (p=0.001). No significant correlation was observed between gender or students’ grand point averages with scores of research barriers (p>0.05).Finally improvement strategies for students’ reasearch management in three fields of structure, process, and function were represented.Conclusion: This research emphasises on the required infrastructures for student researches, taking benefit of well-trained research assistants and encorporating research methodology course in curricula of all medical sciences disciplines as the main basis for student research activity improvement.

Introduction: Having entrepreneurial and innovative performance is an important issue for individual’s adaption to the new era. Nowadays, entrepreneurship is a necessity, and adequacy of students’ entrepreneurial attributes is a prerequisite for entrepreneurship development in health care. This research was conducted with the aim of evaluating entrepreneurship attributes in dentistry students at Babol Medical University.Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed on all 82 postgraduate dentistry students at Babol Medical University in 2012-2013. Research tool was three comprehensive standard entrepreneurship questionnaires (with five themes: tendency to be successful, tendency to be independent, creativity, risktaking, determination), ambiguity tolerance and locus of control. For data analysis, descriptive statistics, and T-test were used.Results: Result indicates that the mean scores of tendency to be successful, tendency to be independent, creativity, risk-taking, and determination and also students’ ambiguity tolerance were 9.5±2.87, 4.38±1.35, 9.13±2.25, 9.22±2.13, 8.24±1.95, 25.47±1.25, 41.64±3.82, respectively, and they were higher than the theoretical mean. Concerning the locus of control, result shows that (the mean obtained regarding students’ locus of control was 41.64±3.82) it was higher than the standard mean for this attribute (m=40). Moreover, result indicates that there was no significant difference between genders in tendency to be successful, tendency to be independent, creativity, and risk-taking. But in determination, ambiguity tolerance, and locus of control, a significant difference was observed between genders.Conclusion: The high mean of entrepreneurship attributes (over theoretical mean) generally represents dentistry students’ potential readiness towards being entrepreneurs. However, it is necessary to improve the entrepreneurship training program by paying appropriate attention to all the components.

Introduction: Observing the criteria of professional ethics is an innate trait of nursing profession by which an individual gets committed to perform appropriately so that make no harm to the clients and improve their health status. This study aimed to determine barriers to observe professional ethics from nurses’ viewpoints in year 2012.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on a census sample of nurses working in hospitals affiliated to Jahrom University of Medical Sciences (n=152). Data gathering tool was a researcher-made questionnaire about three categories of barriers to compliance with professional ethics standards, including “managerial”, “environmental” and “individual care-giving” obstacles. Data was analyzed by calculating frequency of responses to items, and weighted frequencies in each category.Results: Most responders agreed to the barrier role of environmental (68.5%), individual care-giving (62.7%) and managerial (61.6%) items in meeting ethical standards in practice. The most important barriers were lack of staff (80.3%) regarding management area, overcrowded wards (75.6%) considering environmental area, and failure in fulfillment of basic needs such as sufficient income or enough break-time for nursing staffs (84.8%).Conclusion: Environmental areas were the most important barriers of compliance with professional ethics. Therefore it is recommended that health organizations especially hospitals put emphasis on principles and standards of health care, including environmental factors via precise planning, drawing attention to importance of professional ethics in patients’ recovery, advantages of regarding these ethics and disadvantages of violating them, as well as providing desirable situation for nurses to overcome these barriers.

Introduction: Spiritual intelligence as the foundation of one's beliefs has a crucial role in different aspects of human life particularly in provision and promotion of mental health. On the other hand, the role of happiness in mental health, physical health, and efficient social partnership is considered to be very important. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between spiritual intelligence, happiness and academic achievement in students of Qom University of Medical Sciences.Methods: In this descriptive, analytical research conducted in 2011-2012, a census sample of 353 medical, nursing, and midwifery students were studied. Data gathering tools included the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire and spiritual intelligence Questionnaire of Badie. Data were analyzed via ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and t test.Results: The mean and standard deviation for total score of spiritual intelligence and happiness were 152.93±18.83 (out of 210) and 48.33±16.22 (out of 87), respectively. A direct, significant, and moderate relationship existed between the spiritual intelligence and happiness scores (r=0.599, p=0.0001).There was a weak but significant relationship between the spiritual intelligence and academic achievement (r=0.12, p=0.041). Mean score for happiness was not correlated with academic achievement (p>0.05). The mean score of spiritual intelligence in males (149.74±17.11) was significantly different (t=3.98, p=0.048) from that of females (154.32±19.45). Also statistically significant differences were observed in the mean scores of happiness among students with different fields of study (F=3.94, p=0.020) and also with different economic status were significantly different (F=3.98, p=0.008). Mean scores of spiritual intelligence of students with different fields of study (F=3.65, p=0.027) and with different economic status (F=4.15, p=0.007) were also significantly different.Conclusion: Higher spiritual intelligence was associated with more happiness and academic achievement of students. It seems that promotion of spiritual intelligence creates a cheerful mood and promotes academic achievement of students of medical sciences and thus improves the quality of medical care to patients.