scholarly journals Maintenance of empathy levels among first and final year medical students: a cross sectional study

F1000Research ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Areeb Sohail Bangash ◽  
Nisreen Feroz Ali ◽  
Abdul Haseeb Shehzad ◽  
Sobia Haqqi

Objectives:The purpose of this study was to quantifythe levels of empathy amongst medical students in the first year and final year of the medical curriculum at a medical university in Karachi, Pakistan.Methods:A cross-sectional study, comprising of participating students in their first year and final year of the medical curriculum at Ziauddin University Medical College, was carried out, using the Empathy Quotient (EQ) scale consisting of 60 questions through a self-administered questionnaire. The results were collected anonymously over a time period of six months from a sample of 171 participants.Results:According to our analysis, we found 82.67% of fifth year students and 80.21% of first years showing average or above average levels of empathy. Female mean scores were 42±9.60 while males were 38.7±9.358 (P=0.03). No association was found between empathy and age of the participants (p=0.77).Conclusion:We found no significant difference in the levels of empathy between the first and fifth year medical students. However, it was shown that females exhibited higher levels of empathy than males.

2017 ◽  
Vol 07 (01) ◽  
pp. 007-011
Author(s):  
Sanjay Kini ◽  
Muthukumar R. ◽  
Rakesh G. Maiya ◽  
Nishanth Krishna K. ◽  
N. Udaya Kiran

Abstract Introduction: Research experience gained by medical students during their under graduate tenure plays a significant role in their future endeavours in the field of medical research. The present study was a cross-sectional study conducted to know the attitudes and perceptions towards research among final year medical students in a private medical college. Methods: A total of 220 students participated in the study. Results: The majority of the students agreed that research is important in the medical field (88.6%, 195/220). The majority also believed that research methodology to be part of medical curriculum (72.7%, 160/220). 31.8% (70/220) felt that Research methodology will be helpful to enter competitive exams (USMLE, PLAB). The barriers for conducting research as believed by students were: Lack of interest (32.7%, 72/220), Lack of time (31.4%, 135/220), Inadequate knowledge about research methodology (51.4%, 113/230), Lack of guidance by faculties (27.7%, 61/220), Lack of research curriculum (34.1%, 75/230) Inadequate facilities for research (35.5%, 78/220), Inadequate financial support (30.9%, 68/220) and others 2.9% (6/220). Of the participating students, 23.2% (51/220) participated in research during medical school, while 76.8% (179/220) did not. Conclusion: Medical colleges should emphasize more on research among the undergraduate students. There is a need to reform the medical curriculum with more weightage towards research methodology.


2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (232) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pravakar Dawadi ◽  
Sabina Khadka ◽  
Milan Chandra Khanal ◽  
Raj Kumar Thapa

Introduction: Voluntary blood donation is a reliable source of increasing the demand for blood transfusion. Medical students are the potential pool of blood donors. This study aims to find the prevalence of blood donation practice among medical students of a medical college in Nepal. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in a medical college of Nepal among students studying from the first year to final year MBBS. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee of the Nepalese Army Institute of Health Sciences (Ref no. 245). A stratified random sampling technique was used to collect data. A self-administered pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2016. Results: The prevalence of blood donation practice among medical students of the medical college is 41 (22.20%) (17.35-27.05 at 95% Confidence Interval). The practice of blood donation is seen more among students of the final year 15 (35.71%) and the least among first year 3 (8.57%). Most of the donors, 24 (58.54%), have donated blood only once before. The most common reasons for donating and not donating blood before are ‘behavior of altruism’ 12 (29.27%) and ‘I am not fit/disapproved’ 44 (30.56%) respectively. Conclusions: This study shows less prevalence of blood donation practice among medical students. It points to the need for more extensive studies to explore the factors deterring medical students from donating blood. Definitive strategies are also needed to encourage medical students to increased voluntary participation in blood donation.


2010 ◽  
Vol 50 (180) ◽  
Author(s):  
P Khanal ◽  
R H Ghimire ◽  
B Gautam ◽  
SK Dhungana ◽  
P Parajuli ◽  
...  

Introduction: Substance use including tobacco and alcohol is the most important cause of preventable morbidity, disability, and premature mortality. The study aims to specify the prevalence and the pattern of use of different substance. Methods: A cross sectional study was performed amongst first year and final year students in four medical colleges in Kathmandu using self administered anonymous questionnaire.Data collectedfrom 446 students were analyzed. Results: Prevalence of substance use was found to be 60.3% among the medical students. Alcohol (57.6%) was the substance most prevalently used followed by tobacco (27.58%) and cannabis (12.8%). Mean age of first exposure was 17.94 (Confidence interval: 17.91-17.97). There was significant difference in the useof tobacco and cannabis amongst final year students than first year students. Male and female differed significantly in use of every substance except for benzodiazepine. Medical college, college and school were place of first exposure in 17.26%, 15.92% and 13.23% of the cases respectively. Family history was associated with substance use in medical students and was statistically significant (P<0.0001).Experimentation was the major reason for the use of most of the substances. Conclusions: Substance use is prevalent in male medical students of both first and final year. Hence steps should be initiated early in school, college and medical college to prevent substance use. Keywords: alcohol, medical students, substance use, tobacco.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-373
Author(s):  
Ayesha Sadiq ◽  
Muhammad Furqan Ashraf ◽  
Paris Zakaullah ◽  
Ammara Asghar

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify and measure the possible potential stressors among undergraduate medical students and explore the correlation of stress with gender and level of academic year. Methodology: The cross-sectional study was conducted to identify and measure possible stressors of undergraduate medical students. Data was collected from 243 medical students of Independent Medical College through a questionnaire between august and September 2016. Frequencies and percentages of level of stress were determined through descriptive analysis. Reliability of the MSSQ questionnaire was also checked for possible demographic variations. Findings: Study proved that the foremost cause of stress experienced by the students was associated to academics that was represented by ARS factor, showing the utmost mean degree off 2. 0453.Females perceive more stress than males in all domains but no significant correlation found on statistical analysis. Level of academic related stress remains same in all levels of academic years whereas IRS, DRS, TLRS, GARS, SRS related stress levels shows progressive reduction from first year to final year. Implication: Academics related stress is the leading cause of stress in undergraduate medical students, followed by stress related to interpersonal and intrapersonal factors.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Nour Shashaa ◽  
Mohamad Shadi Alkarrash ◽  
Mohammad Nour Kitaz ◽  
Roaa Rhayim ◽  
Mohammed Ismail ◽  
...  

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (12) ◽  
pp. 832-840
Author(s):  
Katti Sathaporn ◽  
Jarurin Pitanupong

Objective: To determine the level of and factors associated with empathy among medical students.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed all first- to sixth-year medical students at the Facultyof Medicines, Prince of Songkla University, at the end of the 2020 academic year. The questionnaires consisted of:1) The personal and demographic information questionnaire, 2) The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire, and 3) ThaiMental Health Indicator-15. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and factors associated with empathylevel were assessed via chi-square and logistic regression analyses.Results: There were 1010 participants with response rate of 94%. Most of them were female (59%). More than half(54.9%) reported a high level of empathy. There was a statistically significant difference in empathy levels betweenpre-clinical and clinical medical students; in regards to empathy subgroups (P-value < 0.001). The assessment ofemotional states in others by demonstrating appropriate sensitivity behavior, altruism, and empathic respondingscores among the pre-clinical group were higher than those of the clinical group. Multivariate analysis indicatedthat female gender, pre-clinical training level, and minor specialty preference were factors associated with empathylevel. The protective factor that significantly improved the level of empathy was having fair to good mental health.Conclusion: More than half of the surveyed medical students reported a high level of empathy. The protective factorthat improved the level of empathy was good mental health. However, future qualitative methods, longitudinalsurveillance, or long-term follow-up designs are required to ensure the trustworthiness of these findings.


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