Plastic and reconstructive surgery - do our undergraduate medical students have adequate awareness about it? Can we do something to improve their exposure, knowledge and interest in it?

Background: The purpose of this study is to assess the awareness levels about plastic surgery among medical students and to formulate appropriate teaching modules for undergraduate students to introduce and educate them about various plastic surgical procedures.Methods: A questionnaire-based study was done to assess awareness about procedures done under plastic surgery among medical students from second through final year. Collected data were statistically analyzed. The results were used to propose changes in teaching modules to medical students.Results: There is not much awareness about plastic surgery as a specialty amongst medical students. Plastic surgery is mostly perceived as cosmetic surgery, and the other procedures done under plastic surgery is not associated with the speciality by the medical students. Of all the clinical conditions given to the participants, there was not a single clinical condition where the respondents favoured undisputedly for plastic surgeons.Conclusions: Plastic surgery as a specialty is poorly understood by our undergraduate medical students so authors conclude there is lack of awareness, knowledge and disposition about plastic surgical procedures among them. Based on the report’s authors have formulated teaching and practical modules like enrichment courses, value added education, co-curricular activities and introduction to social media platforms related to plastic surgery for creating better awareness and knowledge among undergraduate medical students about plastic surgery.

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Searching for the erosion of empathy in medical undergraduate students: a longitudinal study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041810 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. e041810

Author(s):

José Manuel Blanco ◽

Fernando Caballero ◽

Santiago Álvarez ◽

Mercedes Plans ◽

Diana Monge

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Cognitive Empathy ◽

Primary Outcome Measure ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

School Settings ◽

School Year ◽

School Of Medicine ◽

Medical Undergraduate ◽

Sociocultural Differences

ObjectiveTo analyse the trajectory of empathy throughout the degree programme of medicine in a Spanish school of medicine.DesignLongitudinal, prospective 5-year study, between October 2014 and June 2019.SettingStudents from a Spanish university of medicine.ParticipantsTwo voluntary cohorts of undergraduate medical students from two different school years were invited to participate (n=135 (cohort 1, C1) and 106 (cohort 2, C2) per school year). Finally, a total number of 174 students (102 (C1, 71.6% women) and 72 (C2, 70.8% women) students, respectively) were monitored for 5 years. Each cohort was divided in two subcohorts of paired and unpaired students that were analysed to check possible social desirability bias.Primary outcome measureThe Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE).ResultsThe cohort of 102 students (C1) monitored between their first and fifth years of study (71.6% women) showed an improvement among paired women of 2.15 points in total JSE score (p=0.01) and 2.39 points in cognitive empathy (p=0.01); in the unpaired female cohort the increase was of 2.32 points (cognitive empathy) (p=0.02). The cohort of 72 students (C2) monitored between their second and sixth years of study (70.8% women) displayed a cognitive empathy increase of 2.32 points (p=0.04) in the paired group of women. There were no significant differences between paired and unpaired results for either cohort. Empathy scores among men did not decrease.ConclusionsThe empathy of medical students at our school did not decline along grade years. In fact, it improved slightly, particularly cognitive empathy, among women. This paper contributes to enlarge data from Europe, where longitudinal studies are scarce. It supports the idea that there may be global geo-sociocultural differences; however, more studies comparing different school settings are needed.

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Cosmetic Surgery: A Subspecialty That Needs Specialized Training and Recognition

The American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery ◽

10.1177/07488068211051859 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 074880682110518

Author(s):

Kamran Dastoury ◽

Jacob Haiavy ◽

Jane Petro ◽

Martha Ayewah

Keyword(s):

American Academy ◽

Plastic Surgery ◽

Cosmetic Surgery ◽

Training Programs ◽

Aesthetic Surgery ◽

Fellowship Training ◽

Subspecialty Training ◽

Plastic And Reconstructive Surgery ◽

Surgery Training ◽

American Society

Introduction: This study was performed to provide a comprehensive review of the breadth and depth of fellowship training provided by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS), with direct comparison with other current aesthetic surgery training programs available in the United States. We hypothesized that this subspecialty training provides essential experience and confidence to perform aesthetic procedures, which are likely not adequately imparted during traditional residency training. We also address the notion that Cosmetic Surgery is not under the sole ownership of one specialty, but rather a subspecialty that flourishes by collaboration between multidisciplinary surgical backgrounds. Materials and Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of survey data from 2 distinct groups—current fellows in a 1-year AACS program and surgeons who completed an AACS fellowship between July 2008 and June 2017, who have been in active cosmetic surgery practice ranging from 6 months to over 6 years. A survey was administered via email and distributed by the AACS central office. The responses were compared with data published in the Annals of Plastic Surgery concerning Recent Trends in Resident Career Choices after Plastic Surgery Training. Results: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirements for aesthetic surgical cases in a 6-year Plastic Surgery program are 150 cases, but 50% of graduating seniors feel inadequately prepared to transition straight into aesthetic surgery practice, whereas among AACS graduating fellows, 100% feel very prepared to go on the aesthetic surgery practice, having completed an average of 687 cases within the yearlong training program. We note that the survey response rate was 81% among current fellows versus 35% among practicing surgeons. Discussion: We believe that focused subspecialty training in cosmetic surgery after completion of a primary surgical residency in a form of a structured fellowship through AACS, American Society of Plastic Surgery, American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Commission on Dental Accreditation, and American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (Oculoplastic) is the ideal preparation for the future. As we learn from each other through fellowship training, academic conferences, and research, this will further advance the subspecialty and ultimately improve patient care and outcomes. There is no evidence that these training programs provide less adequate preparation, although they are not accredited by the ACGME. To the contrary, the additional experience and knowledge gained during these fellowship training programs result in better outcomes and more competent practitioners. Conclusions: The development of subspecialty training and board certification for surgeons committed to cosmetic surgery yields the highest level of qualified providers. The diverse backgrounds of these providers continue to allow us to expand and innovate in this field. This study is aimed at moving this conversation forward in a positive direction.

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The usage pattern and willingness of undergraduate medical students for including social media platforms as a learning tool in medical education- an online survey

PERSPECTIVES IN MEDICAL RESEARCH - 2 ◽

10.47799/pimr.0801.03 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 11-17

Author(s):

Momin Kashif ◽

Mirza Nisar Baig

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Medical Education ◽

Medical Students ◽

Online Survey ◽

Active Participation ◽

First Year ◽

Usage Pattern ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Learning Tool ◽

Social Media Platforms

Background: The rapid growth and availability of smartphones and social media platforms (SMP) have changed the medical students' approach to learn and manage the information about their academic, personal and professional lives. Methods: An online survey was done in undergraduate medical students of PIMS, Karimnagar to collect information about usage pattern and perception of SMP, and willingness to participate for using SMP as a learning tool in medical education. Results: Total 433 (Females – 275) out of 600 students participated in the survey from the first year (125), secondyear (151) and third-year (157) MBBS students. Everyone is using some type of SMP. They find SMP nearly equal to lecture materials and subject notes as a useful learning tool and there was significantly increasing trend of perception of SMP being a useful learning tool from the first-year (79%), second-year (83%) to third-year (92%), (p=0.01). Almost 93% want to see SMP used at institute level in medical education. Female students (52.4%) are significantly more willing for active participation than male students (43%), p=0.04. First-year students (56%) are more ready for active participation followed by third (48.4%) and second (43.7%) year students, p=0.08. Conclusion: Most students are willing to include SMP in medical education as a learning tool and ready to participate in different activities if they get the required training. As all students have smartphones and efficiently utilizing different services on their devices, SMP can become an effective learning tool in medical education.

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Effect of epidemiology batch posting in improving attitude towards research among medical students

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20200984 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 1158

Author(s):

Aparnavi P. ◽

Venkatesh U. ◽

Priyanka S. ◽

Shalini S.

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Rank Test ◽

New Delhi ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Indian Medical ◽

Wilcoxon Sign Rank

Background: Epidemiology batch posting (EBP) is conducted only in a few Indian medical colleges for undergraduate students to orient them with research methodologies. EBP is designed to overcome the lacuna in knowledge on attitude towards scientific research amongst medical students. The objective of the study was to study the effect of EBP in improving attitude towards research among medical students.Methods: A pre-post study was conducted on a batch of 40 students (consecutive sampling technique) posted for EBP in Department of Community Medicine, at VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi during October-November 2017. This was well above the required sample size of 16 calculated using G Power 3.1. Data was collected using R-ATR (revised attitude towards research) Data was found to be non-parametric by applying tests of normality. Hence Wilcoxon sign rank test was used to find the statistical significance in change of attitude between pre and post-tests.Results: Participants mean age was 20.50±1.58 yrs and 75% of them were males. The median attitude towards research usefulness increased from 5.25 to 6.75 following EBP. In the domain of positive predisposition towards research, there was an overall positive change in attitude from a median of 4.00 to 5.25. A negative change was shown in ‘research anxiety’ domain, from a median score of 5.00 to 3.00.Conclusions: Authors recommend that Indian medical curriculum should mandate a small group learning model such as EBP for all undergraduate medical students to bring about a positive attitude towards research and to reduce their anxiety levels.

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Evaluating the effectiveness of plastic surgery simulation training for undergraduate medical students

Journal of Plastic Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery ◽

10.1016/j.bjps.2019.10.005 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 73 (2) ◽

pp. 276-277 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

David Zargaran ◽

Mohammed Turki ◽

Borna Farzaneh ◽

Malvika Subramaniam ◽

Nima Motahariasl ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Plastic Surgery ◽

Simulation Training ◽

Surgery Simulation ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students

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P142: Perspectives of medical students and undergraduate students on their experience as medical scribes in the Saint John Regional Hospital Emergency Department

CJEM ◽

10.1017/cem.2020.346 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (S1) ◽

pp. S115-S116

Author(s):

I. Abelev ◽

D. Lewis ◽

J. Fraser ◽

P. Atkinson

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Medical Profession ◽

Value Added ◽

School Curriculum ◽

Health Care Team ◽

Direct Access ◽

Theory Approach ◽

Medical Terminology ◽

Structured Interviews

Introduction: Electronic medical records (EMR) have placed increasing demand on emergency physicians and may contribute to physician burnout and stress. The use of scribes to reduce workload and increase productivity in emergency departments (ED) has been reported. This objective of this study was to evaluate the educational and experiential value of scribing among medical and undergraduate students. We asked: “Will undergraduates be willing to scribe in exchange for clinical exposure and experience?”; and, “Should scribing be integrated into the medical school curriculum?” Methods: A mixed-methods model was employed. The study population included 5 undergraduate, and 5 medical students. Scribes received technical training on how to take physician notes. Undergraduate students were provided with optional resources to familiarize themselves with common medical terminology. Scribes were assigned to physicians based on availability. An exit interview and semi-structured interviews were conducted at the conclusion of the study. Interviews were transcribed and coded into thematic coding trees. A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to analyze the results. Themes were reviewed and verified by two members of the research team. Results: Undergraduate students preferred volunteering in the ED over other volunteer experiences (5/5); citing direct access to the medical field (5/5), demystification of the medical profession (4/5), resume building (5/5), and perceived value added to the health care team (5/5) as main motivators to continue scribing. Medical students felt scribing should be integrated into their curriculum (4/5) because it complemented their shadowing experience by providing unique value that shadowing did not. Based on survey results, five undergraduate students would be required to cover 40 volunteer hours per week. Conclusion: A student volunteer model of scribing is worthwhile to students and may be feasible; however, scribe availability, potentially high scribe turnover, and limited time to develop a rapport with their physician may impact any efficiency benefit scribes might provide. Importantly, scribing may be an invaluable experience for directing career goals and ensuring that students intrinsically interested in medicine pursue the profession. Medical students suggested that scribing could be added to the year one curriculum to help them develop a framework for how to take histories and manage patients.

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Is English as a Medium of Instruction Problem for Undergraduate Medical Students?

Journal of Armed Forces Medical College Bangladesh ◽

10.3329/jafmc.v6i2.7272 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 32-36 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

S Hossain ◽

KM Shamim ◽

N Shahana ◽

MA Habib ◽

A Rahman

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Medical Students ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Difficulty Level ◽

Medium Of Instruction ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Medical College ◽

Grade Ii ◽

Written Assessment ◽

Grade Iii

Introduction: The students of a country like Bangladesh, where language of medical education is completely English, suffer from a lot of problems in grasping English and also Latin and Greek terms used in English.Objective: This study was aimed to estimate the extents and to identify the nature of the problems faced by the undergraduate students in different aspects of English used in Anatomy.Methods: The study was conducted on 191 third year medical students, who had just passed the Anatomy portion of their undergraduate course from two renowned government medical colleges and one private medical college of Bangladesh. A written assessment test of students' performance was designed using two sets of questions as the instrument of the test. Each student was graded, according to the percentage frequency of correct responses, as having Grade IV difficulty (up to 20%), Grade III difficulty (20.01% to 40%), Grade II difficulty (40.01% to 60%), Grade I difficulty (60.01% to 80%) and Grade 0 with 'no difficulty' (above 80.01%). Comments were also collected from the students regarding their problems with English used in Anatomy.Results: An average of only about 48.2% responses on 'English used in Anatomy' was correct, ranging from about 20 to 70%. An arbitrary grading of difficulty level showed that 75% of the students were suffering from Grade II to Grade III difficulties. Performance of the students showed that the undergraduate medical students of Bangladesh were facing varying but noticeable amounts of difficulty with most of the areas of 'English used in Anatomy'.Conclusion: Organized, regular ways of dealing with these problems should be devised taking into consideration the specific aspects showing weakness and based on principles of terminology and English rather than on individual terms or words. Key words: English used in Anatomy; difficulty; undergraduate medical student DOI: 10.3329/jafmc.v6i2.7272JAFMC Bangladesh. Vol 6, No 2 (December) 2010 pp.32-36

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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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Impact of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) Training on Case Identification and management Skills Among Undergraduate Medical Students in a Developing Country: A Case-Control Study

Journal of Medical Education ◽

10.5812/jme.110046 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol In Press (In Press) ◽

Author(s):

Purushottam Lal ◽

Amit Upadhyay ◽

Sunil Kumar Garg ◽

Aash Kumar Pandey

Keyword(s):

Developing Countries ◽

Medical Students ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Integrated Management ◽

Childhood Illness ◽

Trained Group ◽

Management Skills ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Control Study

Background: In most developing countries, undergraduate medical students rely upon books published by foreign publications of developed countries. These books often fail to include the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended guidelines, which are vital for the national health mission of developing countries. As a result, medical students who are “future doctors” continue to lack the necessary skills when they graduate from medical schools and start working in their countries. Objectives: The aim of this study was to quantify the impact of the inclusion of the WHO-recommended integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) guideline in the curriculum of undergraduate students. Methods: This case-control study was done on a group of 72 undergraduate medical students in the case (trained) group who underwent 12 days of IMCI training and 92 undergraduate students in control (untrained) group who did not receive IMCI training. An evaluation test, which included clinical case scenarios, was conducted to assess the performance of participants from both trained and untrained groups. Results: Participants of the trained group scored significantly higher compared with the participants of the untrained group in the identification and management of major childhood illnesses (P < 0.05). No significant difference was found between trained and untrained groups in the assessment of the immunization status of children. In the trained group, a strong positive correlation (r = 0.87) existed between the attendance percentage of participants during the training session and marks scored in the evaluation (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Our study suggests that the community-oriented WHO recommended IMCI training significantly improves disease identification and case management skills of undergraduate medical students. In developing countries, there is an urgent need for updating medical pedagogy and curriculum, which include WHO guidelines in order to meet current health challenges.

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