A study skills course for First-Year Medical Students: Experience of a Private Medical School in Pakistan

Objectives: To share the experience of study skill module development and implementation for first year MBBS students at Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College (LNH&MC). To compare the change in students’ self- assessment of their knowledge of study skills before and after the course. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted from November 2019 to April 2020. A structured study skills course was offered to 100 first year MBBS students of Liaquat National Hospital & Medical College, Karachi. Steps involved in the development included identification of outcomes, instructional objectives, content and instructional strategies. Students were given two questionnaires. In the first questionnaire, students rated their interest in implementing the learning techniques learnt. In the second questionnaire, students rated their level of knowledge of effective study skills before and after the course. Analysis included computing percentages for students’ preferred study skill technique. Change in knowledge was assessed by comparing retrospective pre-post self-rating using Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test (two-tailed). Results: Analysis of survey forms showed that more than 50% of the students were willing to implement active listening techniques, metacognitive note taking and writing reflections in their future study practice.There was also a statistically significant change in students’ self-rating of their knowledge about study skills (pre-test median 3, post-test median 4, p0.00). Conclusion: This study provides an insight of structured study skills course development and implementation in early medical college studies that could help them in combating academic stress. In addition, students’ response about their preferred technique and their feedback comparison concluded their positive attitude towards the course. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.1.2772 How to cite this:Ali S, Tabassum A, Hashmi MSS, Huda N. A study skills course for First-Year Medical Students: Experience of a Private Medical School in Pakistan. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(1):65-70. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.1.2772 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Health numeracy skills of medical students:cross-sectional and controlled before-and-after study

BMC Medical Education ◽

10.1186/s12909-019-1902-6 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ivan Buljan ◽

Ružica Tokalić ◽

Matko Marušić ◽

Ana Marušić

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Research Methodology ◽

First Year ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Numeracy Skills ◽

Before And After ◽

First Year Medical Students ◽

Before And After Study

Abstract Background Although numeracy, defined as understanding and handling numbers, is an important skill for the medical profession, it is not clear whether it changes during graduate medical education and whether it can be improved by specific interventions. The objective of this study was to assess objective and subjective numeracy levels at different stages of medical education and explore whether a research methodology/statistics course improves numeracy levels in a longer period. Methods We performed cross-sectional and controlled before-and-after studies. First-year sociology students and first- to sixth-year medical students from the in the cross sectional study and two groups of first-year medical students in a controlled before-and-after study. The intervention was a course on biostatistics and research methodology using blended approach. Numeracy was measured using Subjective Numeracy Scale (Cronbach α = 0.70) and Numeracy Understanding in Medicine instrument (Cronbach α = 0.75). Results Whereas first-year medical students did not differ from first-year sociology students in objective numeracy, medicine students had higher results on subjective numeracy. Students from higher years of medical school had generally higher subjective and objective numeracy scores. In the controlled before-and-after study, the intervention group improved more in subjective numeracy (median difference on a 0–8 scale = 0.5, 95% CI 0.3 to 0.7 vs − 0.4, 95% CI − 0.4 to − 0.1, P < 0.001) but not in objective numeracy. Conclusions Although the numeracy levels at the beginning of the medical school are within the range of non-medical population, both objective and subjective numeracy improve during the higher years of medical school. Curriculum during medical school may help in numeracy increase, while research methodology training may help to increase subjective but not objective numeracy skills.

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First year medical students’ perceptions of the impact of wearing scrubs on professional identity: a narrative analysis in the United Arab Emirates

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-039357 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. e039357

Author(s):

Sara Sorrell ◽

Halah Ibrahim

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Qualitative Analysis ◽

Medical School ◽

Professional Identity ◽

United Arab Emirates ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

First Year ◽

Written Narratives ◽

First Year Medical Students ◽

The Impact

ObjectivesMedical school serves as a critical developmental period for future physicians, during which students begin to form a professional identity. Just as personal appearance, particularly clothing, is an important external expression of one’s personal identity, ‘uniforms’ in healthcare, including white coats and scrubs, symbolise status and a group identity. There are, however, limited studies on the impact of physician attire on medical students’ formation of professional identity. Accordingly, through qualitative analysis of written narratives, we sought to analyse medical students’ experiences of wearing professional physician attire, namely scrubs, and how the uniform impacted their confidence level, performance and behaviours, as well as their identity as future physicians.DesignQualitative analysis of medical student’s written narratives.SettingKhalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences (KU CMHS) is a new medical school in the United Arab Emirates, with an inaugural class of 30 students admitted in August 2019. It is the only medical school in the city of Abu Dhabi, and the only school in the country that follows a postgraduate medical curriculum.ParticipantsAll first year medical students at KU CMHS were purposively sampled.MethodsStudents completed a voluntary online anonymous questionnaire. We employed a social identity approach to data analysis. Thematic content analysis was conducted on their narratives to identify themes.ResultsWe identified three major themes, namely (1) emotions, (2) logistics and (3) interpersonal relationships.ConclusionsMedical students form early perceptions regarding physician attire and its impact on their professional identity. Engaging in conversations regarding professional attire with educators or mentors could provide an important opportunity for students to discuss and explore professional identity early in training.

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Perception of Peer learning, as an innovative learning strategy among first year medical students lacking senior guidance.

The Professional Medical Journal ◽

10.29309/tpmj/2020.27.09.4294 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 27 (09) ◽

pp. 1895-1901

Author(s):

Ahmed Murtaz Khalid ◽

Noman Sadiq ◽

Aiman Farogh Anjum ◽

Iffat Naiyar Hashmi ◽

Misbah Aslam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Learning Strategy ◽

Peer Learning ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

First Year ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Self Reflection ◽

Medical College ◽

Innovative Learning ◽

First Year Medical Students

Objectives: To know the perception of peer-learning among first batch of 1st year medical students in CMH Kharian Medical College. Study Design: Cross-Sectional study. Setting: CMH Kharian Medical College. Period: June 2018 and September 2018. Material & Methods: Questionnaire was distributed among hundred first year medical students on self-reflection and feedback after 15 min power point presentation given by their fellow students based on different pathophysiological scenarios. Results: Out of 100 students, 85 filled out questionnaire form completely. 60% of students were of the opinion that peer-learning facilitated them to perform better in the exam, and can be continued for future batches. 50% of students agreed that this innovative learning modality was conducted in a systematic manner, helped them to improve their understanding of the subject and learning was fostered based on the principles of self-reflection and feedback. Problem solving ability was improved by peer learning format according to 49% of students, while 47% of students reported that this innovative learning strategy provided them with a tool to improve their learning through interaction, while research capabilities of 37% students were improved. Conclusion: Majority of first year medical students lacking senior guidance learned better in a comfortable environment from their peers, and improved understanding of the core subject by realizing the implication of the concept of self-reflection and feedback.

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