Final-year medical students’ competence profiles according to the modified requirement tracking questionnaire

Abstract Background Undergraduate medical education is supposed to equip medical students with basic competences to select any specialty of their choice for postgraduate training. Medical specialties are characterized by a great diversity of their daily work routines and require different sets of competence facets. This study examines the self-assessed competence profiles of final-year undergraduate medical students and their specialty choice for postgraduate training. Students’ profiles, who wish to choose anaesthesiology, internal medicine, or paediatrics, are compared with the physicians’ competence profiles from these three disciplines. Methods In this study, 148 volunteer final-year undergraduate medical students completed the modified requirement-tracking (R-Track) questionnaire for self-assessment of their competence profiles. The R-Track questionnaire contains 63 competence facets assigned to six areas of competence: “Mental abilities”, “Sensory abilities”, “Psychomotor & multitasking abilities”, “Social interactive competences”, “Motivation”, and “Personality traits”. The expression of the different competence facets had to be assessed on a 5-point Likert scale (1: “very low” to 5: “very high”). Additionally, socio-demographic data and the participants’ first choice of a medical speciality for postgraduate education were collected. We used analysis of variance (ANOVA) for mean score comparison of subgroups and least significant difference (LSD) tests for post hoc analysis. Results The competence area with the highest rating was “Motivation” (3.70 ± 0.47) while “Psychomotor & multitasking abilities” received the lowest rating (3.34 ± 0.68). Individual facets of competence ranked from “In need of harmony” (4.36 ± 0.72), followed by “Tactfulness” (4.26 ± 0.64), and “Cooperation/Agreeableness” (4.24 ± 0.53) to “Risk orientation” (2.90 ± 0.92), “Mathematical reasoning” (2.87 ± 1.25), and “Sanctioning” (2.26 ± 0.93). The students’ competence profiles showed 100 % congruence with physicians’ competence profiles of the postgraduate specialty of their choice for internal medicine, 33.3 % for paediatrics, and 0 % for anaesthesiology. Conclusions Undergraduate medical students could define their competence profiles with the modified R-Track questionnaire and compare them with the profile of their desired specialty for postgraduate training to discover possible learning gaps or to detect good specialty matches. A combination of students’ competence self-assessment with an external assessment of students’ facets of competence could provide curricular planners with useful information how to design learning opportunities for specific facets of competence.

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REASONS FOR CHOOSING SPECIALTY AFTER GRADUATION AMONG STUDENTS OF A PRIVATE MEDICAL COLLEGE IN PAKISTAN

Pakistan Journal of Public Health ◽

10.32413/pjph.v7i2.41 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 90-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Imran Shaikh ◽

Khola Noreen ◽

Nadia Khalid ◽

Riasat Ali Nehra ◽

Kauser Aftab Khan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Internal Medicine ◽

Medical Students ◽

Family Medicine ◽

General Surgery ◽

Role Model ◽

Ethical Review ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Factors Influencing ◽

First Choice

Background: Diverse factors influence the career choice of undergraduate medical students. This study was carried out to identify career preferences and factors influencing their selection among undergraduate medical students Methods: The descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among under graduate students. Final MBBS medical students (84) were interviewed. They were interviewed for career preference after finishing medical school and then for reasons of choosing a specific specialty. All information gathered was on voluntary basis. Anonymity and confidentiality was maintained. The study was approved by the college ethical review committee Results: Out of total 84 students 61 (72.6%, males & females) decided about the specialty in final year while 23 (27.4%, males & females) were undecided in choosing their specialty. Among those who have decided in males (n=13) Internal Medicine was the first choice with 68.4% (n=13), general surgery 63% (n=12) followed by Pediatrics 31.6% (n=7). Among females n=31, internal medicine was the first choice with 59% (n=31), Pediatrics 38% (n=16) followed by Family Medicine 38% (n=16) and General Surgery 35% (n=15). Regarding factors influencing choice of specialty personal interest is the top factor in males & females with 72%(n=44), content of specialty 16% (n=10), role model and close interaction with patients15% (n=9), financial reward ranks fourth13% (n=8) and intellectual challenge & desire practice setting 11.5% (n=7). Among undecided for specialty (males & females) n=23, most of the students are of the opinion that insufficient information is the top most reason (56%) n=13, followed by lack of guidance (43%) n =10, lack of role model (39%) n=9 is the third leading factor for being undecided. Conclusion: The trend of preferring Clinical over Basic Sciences is evident in the study. Interestingly Family medicine was also a preferred specialty among females. In improving the health outcomes Pakistan needs Family physicians trained to provide low cost services at community level.

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Diversity of the physician workforce: Specialty choice decisions during medical school

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0259434 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (11) ◽

pp. e0259434

Author(s):

John Burkhardt ◽

Stephen DesJardins ◽

Larry Gruppen

Keyword(s):

Internal Medicine ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Student Attitudes ◽

Regression Models ◽

Secondary Data ◽

Specialty Choice ◽

Medical Graduate ◽

Student Body ◽

Medical Specialties

Background Despite efforts to increase the overall diversity of the medical student body, some medical specialties have a less diverse applicant pool based on both gender and race than would be expected based on medical graduate demographics. Objectives To identify whether women and Underrepresented in Medicine (URiM) medical students have baseline differences in their career interests or if their career plans change more during medical school when compared to men and non-URIM students. Methods Secondary data analyses of all medical students who applied through ERAS from 2005–2010 was conducted. Binary logistic regression models with the response being a planned career in one of four medical specialties (internal medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN, and general surgery/surgical specialties) at medical school entry and graduation. Regression models included demographics, student attitudes, debt, academic metrics, and medical school experiences. Results Comparatively, women were less likely to be interested in internal medicine and surgery and more interested in pediatrics and OB/GYN at matriculation. URiM students expressed more interest in OB/GYN and surgery when starting medical school. At graduation, women were less likely to plan for internal medicine and surgery and were more interested in pursuing OB/GYN and pediatrics. URiM students were more likely to plan for a career in internal medicine and less likely to choose pediatrics. Conclusions From matriculation to graduation, women have relatively stable preferences regarding planned medical specialties. In contrast, URiM students’ specialty plans shifted over time among the four specialties, with variation in preferences occurring between matriculation and graduation.

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Correlations between medical students’ specialty choice and different attitudes towards mental illness

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.01.1360 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (S1) ◽

pp. S739-S739

Author(s):

M. Pascucci ◽

E. Stella ◽

M. La Montagna ◽

D. Di Sabatino ◽

R. Nicastro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Medical Students ◽

Psychiatric Disorders ◽

Psychiatric Patients ◽

Specialty Choice ◽

Reference Points ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Medical Specialties

IntroductionDiscrimination and stigmatization cause an important burden for people suffering from psychiatric disorders. The medical doctors, those who should be important reference points for psychiatric patients, are instead one of the categories that contribute to their stigmatization.ObjectivesIt is extremely important to study and to know the attitudes of undergraduate medical students towards psychiatric disorders, since these individuals will be involved in the care of these patients throughout their careers.AimsThe present study analyzes the attitudes of a group of Italian medical students towards mental illness, highlighting the differences between the students who would choose surgical specialties from those who prefer medical ones.MethodsA total of 339 medical students of different medical schools, in Rome and Foggia (Italy), completed a cross-sectional survey. The Italian version of community attitude towards the mentally Ill test (CAMI) was used to evaluate the students’ attitudes.ResultsThe students that would choose medical specialties reported less stigmatizing responses in 11 CAMI items (including five items with P < 0.01), in benevolence and community mental health ideology subscales (P = 0.003) and in the total score (P = 0.003).ConclusionsIt is evident that the students that prefer the surgical specialties have more stigmatizing attitudes towards psychiatric patients. Negative feedbacks on Psychiatry from non-psychiatrist colleagues may have a fundamental role in stigmatizing mental disorders.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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Awareness of basic life support among undergraduate medical students in Syria, Iraq and Jordan: a cross sectional study

10.21203/rs.3.rs-315179/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mohammad Nour Shashaa ◽

Mohamad Shadi Alkarrash ◽

Mohammad Nour Kitaz ◽

Roaa Rhayim ◽

Mohammed Ismail ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Basic Life Support ◽

Life Support ◽

Clinical Stage ◽

Sudden Cardiac Arrest ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Significant Difference

Abstract Background Sudden cardiac arrest considers one of the most leading cause for death in all over the world. It is important for all medical students to train basic life support. This study evaluated the awareness of basic life support among medical students. Methods An electronic questionnaire based cross sectional study was conducted in November 2020 among 2114 medical student in Syria, Iraq and Jordan. We evaluated BLS skills according to mean score. A chi-squared test was used to determine if there were differences between those who attended a basic life support course and those who did not. Results 1656 of the participants (78.3%) stated that they did not attend a basic life support course. There was a significant difference between the participants from different countries where the mean score in Syria, Jordan and Iraq was 18.3, 24.3 and 18.8 respectively (p < 0.05). The participants were divided into 3 level according to total score; low (0–12), moderate (13–24) and high (25–37). In total, 18.3%, 72.8% and 8.9% of participants had high, intermediate and low level respectively. Conclusions The overall knowledge of basic life support among medical students is not adequate and need significant improvements. This study showed that an attendance a basic life support course previously had an effect on knowledge level. Hence, there is an urgent need to apply basic life support courses into the pre-clinical stage at universities.

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Prevalence of somatic symptoms amongst undergraduate medical students of Marathwada region of Maharashtra, India

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20205192 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (12) ◽

pp. 5106

Author(s):

Shaikh Arshiya Kaiser Husain ◽

Anwaya R. Magare ◽

Purushottam A. Giri ◽

Vijaykumar S. Jadhav

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

High Stress ◽

Well Being ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Future Health ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Negative Effect

Background: The aim of medical education is to produce competent, physically and mentally strong health professionals, as they are going to be the pillars of the future health care system. Stress is one of the most common and process-oriented obstacles in medical education. It often exerts a negative effect on the academic performance, physical health, and psychological well-being of the students. Dealing with overloaded medical curriculum, competing with peers, being away from home and meeting high expectations imposed by parents and society to excel is among the common stressful transitions at this stage.Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out amongst 352 undergraduate medical students of a private medical college in a rural area of Maharashtra during April to October 2019. The structured questionnaire was used to record the data. Collected data was used to assess the severity of mental health issues among medical students.Results: Majority 194 (55.11%) students were in the age of 18 to 20 years followed by 141 (40.06%) were in 21 to 23 years. There were 196 (55.68%) girl students and 156 (44.32%) boys. According to the various categories, 80 (22.73%) of the students had low stress scores, followed by 76 (21.59%) in minimal. A highly significant difference in stress scores was seen between boys and girls, which was more in boys.Conclusions: Study concluded that undergraduate medical students perceive minimal to very high stress presented as various systems that vary with the year of study and gender wise too. There is a further need to look into the various causes of stress.

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Approach to the Internal Medicine Board Examination

The Brigham Intensive Review of Internal Medicine ◽

10.1093/med/9780199358274.003.0106 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 1103-1107

Author(s):

Stuart B. Mushlin

Keyword(s):

Internal Medicine ◽

Medical Knowledge ◽

Core Knowledge ◽

Self Assessment ◽

Medical Specialties ◽

The Core ◽

Body Of Knowledge ◽

The Subject ◽

The 1960S ◽

Core Body

This chapter is different from the others. Its intent is to concentrate your mind on the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) examination, its purpose, and its likely test scenarios. The ABIM moved to a written rather than oral test in the 1960s. The testing has been extensively validated and is unlikely to change much in its character. Essentially, the ABIM wants to determine if you have the core knowledge in all the disciplines to be an effective and efficient physician. It further wants to discriminate between you and the other test takers so that you can see how you compare with others taking the examination. Many candidates, in their increasing anxiety over the subject matter, lose sight of these major objectives. To pass the examination it is not necessary to regurgitate in photographic detail one of the standard textbooks of medicine or the latest Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP) review; however, you should feel that you know the core body of knowledge in all the major medical specialties.

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Attitude of Basic Science Medical Students towards Post Graduation in Medicine and Surgery: A Questionnaire based Cross-sectional Study from Western Region of Nepal

Nepal Journal of Epidemiology ◽

10.3126/nje.v1i4.5754 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 1 (4) ◽

pp. 126-134 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bedanta Roy ◽

Indrajit Banerjee ◽

Brijesh Sathian ◽

Monami Mondal ◽

Sai Sailesh Kumar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Career Choice ◽

Basic Science ◽

Female Students ◽

Male Students ◽

Sri Lankan ◽

Basic Sciences ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Medical Specialties

Background Career choice of medical students plays a vital role for health care system of a country. It also plays a crucial role to bring medical specialties into mainstream focus. Materials and Method A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study has been performed at Manipal College of Medical Sciences, during the period of 1st May to 31st August–2011. A self reported questionnaire was given to the undergraduate medical students of Basic sciences. Questionnaire included career choices, nature of career, reason for choice, and education level and occupation in their parents. Results Data was collected from 269 medical students, among them 145 males and 124 female students participated in the study. The mean age of Indian (85, 31.6%), Nepalese (110, 40.9%) and Sri Lankan (74, 27.5%) students were 18.3 ± SD 0.7, 18.6 ± SD 0.8 and 18.0 ± SD 1.5 years respectively. Education and Occupation of parents seems to influence the determination of career choice in case of Medical students (p<0.01). Females have 2.19 times preference of choosing Medicine and 0.22 times Surgery compared to males (p<0.01). In case of Nepali male students, Surgery (60.3%) was the most preferred Postgraduate subject followed by medicine (20.6%) and in female students, medicine (44.7%) and OBG (31.9%). But in case of Indian male students 58.0% & 31.4% female students want to choose surgery as their career. 53.1% of the Sri-Lankan male students want to choose medicine as their post graduation and apart from these 50% of the female students also, which is followed by surgery 46.9% (male) and 21.4% (female) respectively. Conclusion Our study supports that Post-graduation in clinical specialties is always preferred over Basic sciences due to more interaction with patients and the practical aspects of medical profession. The relatively less popularity of some streams may show long-term impact on the health of health system of Nepal. Medical Universities have to modify their academic intervention activities to improve the basic science teaching learning programme in Nepal to turn around the deficiency of post graduates in this stream.http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nje.v1i4.5754 Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 2011;1(4):126-134

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BASH: badmouthing, attitudes and stigmatisation in healthcare as experienced by medical students

BJPsych Bulletin ◽

10.1192/pb.bp.115.053140 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 40 (2) ◽

pp. 97-102 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Ali Ajaz ◽

Rhodri David ◽

Damien Brown ◽

Melanie Smuk ◽

Ania Korszun

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Career Choice ◽

Academic Staff ◽

Medical Schools ◽

Specialty Choice ◽

Direct Result ◽

Clinical Implications ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Medical Specialties ◽

Negative Comments

Aims and methodWe used an online questionnaire to investigate medical students' perceptions of the apparent hierarchy between specialties, whether they have witnessed disparaging comments (‘badmouthing’ or ‘bashing’) against other specialists and whether this has had an effect on their career choice.ResultsIn total, 960 students from 13 medical schools completed the questionnaire; they ranked medical specialties according to the level of badmouthing and answered questions on their experience of specialty bashing. Psychiatry and general practice attracted the greatest number of negative comments, which were made by academic staff, doctors and students. Twenty-seven per cent of students had changed their career choice as a direct result of bashing and a further 25.5% stated they were more likely to change their specialty choice. Although 80.5% of students condemned badmouthing as unprofessional, 71.5% believed that it is a routine part of practising medicine.Clinical implicationsBashing of psychiatry represents another form of stigmatisation that needs to be challenged in medical schools. It not only has an impact on recruitment into the specialty, but also has the wider effect of stigmatising people with mental health disorders.

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Perception of OSCE as An Assessment Tool in Undergraduate Students of Private Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan

10.53350/pjmhs211582370 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (8) ◽

pp. 2370-2374

Author(s):

Saba Pario ◽

Shaista Bashir Anwar ◽

Zafar Haleem Baloch ◽

Saira Ghafoor ◽

Shazia Aftab ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Clinical Skills ◽

Tool Material ◽

P Value ◽

Practical Skills ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Significant Difference

OBJECTIVE: To explore the perception of undergraduate students of United Medical and dental college towards objective structured clinical examination as an assessment tool. MATERIAL & METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study included undergraduate medical students, RESULTS: 153 students who completely filled the proforma were included in study among them 31% were male and 69% were females. Mostly agreed that stations in OSCE were simple and easily interpretable and assessed practical skills thoroughly. Majority of students accepted that skills inquired were taught in clinics, stations were according to course and stations were appropriately timed. 66 % confirmed that adequate instructions were provided before exam. 84.31% believed that OSCE is preferable to viva. 57.51% of candidates stated that examiners during OSCE were attentive and gracious but 20.91 % objected it , while 21.57% remained neutral. Almost half of examinees labelled it as comprehensive clinical assessment .Overall, 67.97 % perceived OSCE as demanding and tough assessment. Finally views of students for statement that OSCE is unbiased, reliable and valid were positive in 50.32%.There was a significant difference in the opinion of male and female( p-value is less than 0.05) in statement that OSCE thoroughly assessed practical skills, stations were according to course of instruction, Adequate instructions were provided before exam, superior and preferable to viva, assists in improvement of clinical skills, demanding and tough and finally OSCE was unbiased, reliable and valid CONCLUSION: OSCE was perceived as fair, comprehensive, un-biased format of examination but believed it was more stressful than traditional examination methods . KEY WORDS: Assessment, Attitude, OSCE, Perception, Undergraduate Medical students.

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Gender difference in performance of undergraduate medical students for subjective and objective evaluation in physiology

International Journal of Scientific Reports ◽

10.18203/issn.2454-2156.intjscirep20170353 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 22 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Meenakshi Sinha ◽

Jayshri Ghate ◽

Dipali K. Chatur ◽

Ramanjan Sinha

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Gender Difference ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

Objective Evaluation ◽

Female Students ◽

High Achievers ◽

Multiple Choice Questions ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Significant Difference

Background: Several studies have indicated gender differences in performance of undergraduate students in medical curriculum mainly in the clinical specialties which requires different set of skills as compared to pre and paraclinical subjects. Therefore, the study aim to investigate gender difference if any, on overall performance as well as on different modalities of assessment like multiple choice questions (MCQ) and structured long & short answer questions (LSQ) of medical students in physiology.Methods: Performance of 238 first year MBBS students in overall theory (MCQ+LSQ) and separately in MCQ and LSQ were compared between male (n=139) & female (n=99). Further, they were sub-grouped on the basis of total marks in theory as low (<50%), medium (50-65%) and high achievers (>65%). Results: Female students scored significantly more compared to male students in total (60.8±7.42% vs 56.81±8.78%) as well as individually in MCQ & LSQ. Also, overall failure rate was more for male (19%) as compared to female (7%). However, comparison of high achiever group revealed no significant difference in performance of both genders in all modalities of assessments. Whereas, female students of both medium and low achiever groups had significantly high scores in LSQ as compared to male, but no such difference was observed for MCQ.Conclusions: Average and below average female students performed better relative to their male counterparts in subjective assessment (LSQ) as compared to assessment demanding more analytical/critical thinking (MCQ). However, performance of high achievers did not show any such gender difference. Therefore, different types of assessments bring out different abilities of students across genders depending on their grade of performance in a medical curriculum.

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