Clinical Education and the Computer: A Proposed Model for Computer-Aided Learning in the Medical Curriculum

The aim of this paper is to examine the proposition that computer-aided learning (CAL), which utilises interactive multimedia-based teaching strategies, positively enhances the acquisition of selected clinical recognition skills by undergraduate medical students.

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Usability testing of an e-learning resource designed to improve medical students’ physical activity prescription skills: a qualitative think-aloud study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042983 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. e042983

Author(s):

Helen Carter-Roberts ◽

Richard Antbring ◽

Manuela Angioi ◽

Gemma Pugh

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

Think Aloud ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Learning Resource ◽

Physical Activity Counselling ◽

Exercise Medicine ◽

Activity Promotion ◽

E Learning

ObjectiveAn e-learning resource (MEdic GAming, MEGA) was developed based on the contents of the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine exercise prescription booklet. This study aimed to (i) explore medical students’ perspectives of physical activity promotion and e-learning and (ii) investigate medical students’ response to the design, content and usability of the MEGA e-learning resource.DesignQualitative think-aloud interview study.SettingA London medical school.Participants19 undergraduate medical students were interviewed using the think-aloud method while using the e-learning resource concurrently.ResultsIn general, medical students felt current education on physical activity is inadequate and held a strong desire for more teaching on exercise medicine. Students believed the MEGA e-learning resource addressed a gap in their knowledge on physical activity but noted e-learning should not replace face-to-face teaching and suggested physical activity education would be best delivered through a blended learning approach. Students felt such an approach would allow better opportunity to practice physical activity counselling skills with patients while on clinical placement. Students’ motivation to engage with the MEGA e-learning resource was positively impacted by aesthetically appealing design and interactive gamification elements such as self-assessment quizzes and visual progress tracking.ConclusionMedical students value the role of physical activity in health but are disappointed by the lack of teaching within the current medical curriculum. E-learning resources, such as MEGA, which contain interactive features are a viable means to integrate physical activity into the undergraduate curriculum but should be supplemented by the opportunity to practice physical activity counselling in-person.

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Creative Legal Study among Undergraduate Medical Students: Sharing Technique from Mae Fah Luang University

10.20944/preprints202103.0764.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Arnon Jumlongkul

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

Medical Profession ◽

Competency Assessment ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

End Of Life Decisions ◽

Legal Study ◽

Novel Approach ◽

Medical Professions ◽

Health Laws

In Thailand, the topic of medical ethics and laws related to medical professions has been one part of the national competency assessment criteria. The objective of this article was to design legal issues into the medical curriculum and to share experiences of creative legal study. Legal contents were inserted into 10 subjects and taught for year 1 to year 6 medical students. Students were divided into multi-groups or received individual tasks and then, shared their knowledge and idea for solving legal problems. The results showed they could interpret and create novel ideas for legal and ethical reconstruction, including the topic of the principle of laws, criminal laws, civil and commercial laws, public health laws, organ donation/transplantation, end of life decisions, and legal liability for the medical profession. Finally, the creative legal study can be used as a novel approach to support creativity among medical students.

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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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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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The value of a core clinical rotation in urology for medical students

Canadian Urological Association Journal ◽

10.5489/cuaj.3297 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 9 (11-12) ◽

pp. 392 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Premal Patel ◽

Jasmir G Nayak ◽

Thomas B McGregor

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Core Curriculum ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

Foley Catheter ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Exact Test ◽

Before And After ◽

Chi Squared ◽

Fourth Year Medical Students ◽

Mandatory Rotation

Introduction: In 2013, our institution underwent a change to the undergraduate medical curriculum whereby a clinical urology rotation became mandatory. In this paper, we evaluated the perceived utility and value of this change in the core curriculum.Methods: Third year medical students, required to complete a mandatory 1-week clinical urology rotation, were asked to complete a survey before and after their rotation. Fourth year medical students, not required to complete this rotation, were also asked to complete a questionnaire. Chi-squared and Fisher’s exact test were used for data analysis.Results: In total, 108 third year students rotated through urology during the study period. Of these, 66 (61%) completed the prerotation survey and 54 (50%) completed the post-rotation survey. In total, there were 110 fourth year students. Of these, 44 (40%) completed the questionnaire. After completing their mandatory rotations, students felt more comfortable managing and investigating common urological problems, such as hematuria and renal colic. Students felt they had a better understanding of how to insert a Foley catheter and felt comfortable independently inserting a Foley catheter. Importantly, students felt they knew when to consult urology and were also more likely to consider a career in urology. Compared to fourth year students, third year students felt urology was an important component to a family medicine practice and felt they had a better understanding of when to consult urology. Conclusion: The introduction of a mandatory urology rotation for undergraduate medical students leads to a perceived improvement in fundamental urological knowledge and skill set of rotating students. This mandatory rotation provides a valuable experience that validates its inclusion.

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Empathy in Undergraduate Medical Students of Bangladesh: Psychometric Analysis and Differences by Gender, Academic Year, and Specialty Preferences

ISRN Psychiatry ◽

10.1155/2014/375439 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Asma Mostafa ◽

Rozina Hoque ◽

Mohammad Mostafa ◽

Md. Mashud Rana ◽

Faisal Mostafa

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Clinical Training ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

Principal Component Factor Analysis ◽

Validity And Reliability ◽

Alpha Coefficient ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Cronbach’S Alpha ◽

Medical College ◽

Cronbach's Alpha

Empathy is considered to be associated with better patient compliance, satisfaction, and clinical outcomes. The aim of the study is to measure and examine empathy among a sample of undergraduate medical students of Bangladesh. It was a cross-sectional study and all the medical students of first through fifth year enrolled at Chattagram Maa-O-Shishu Hospital Medical College during the study period of 2014 were surveyed. Participants anonymously completed the Jefferson Scale of Empathy Medical Student version translated into Bengali language, a valid and reliable 20-item self-administered questionnaire. Principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient were calculated to check validity and reliability of the scale. ANOVA was used to examine the differences in empathy between gender, academic years, and specialty preferences. The mean empathy score was 110.41 ± 13.59. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.88. There were significant associations between gender and empathy scores. The level of empathy in medical students gradually increases after clinical training in medical college. A nonsignificant difference was found between empathy scores and specialty preferences. It is suggested that the medical curriculum in Bangladesh should include more extensive program to promote empathy and other humanistic values among the medical students.

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Non-medical use of methylphenidate among medical students of the University of the Free State

South African Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v23i1.1006 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 5 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Roshini Jain ◽

Ch Chiech Chang ◽

Mpho Koto ◽

Alden Geldenhuys ◽

Richard Nichol ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Free State ◽

Specific Information ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Questionnaire Response ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Training Programmes ◽

The University

Background: Faced with demanding training programmes, medical students may be more prone to use methylphenidate for non-medical purposes in order to improve concentration, alertness and academic performance.Aim: The study aimed to investigate the prevalence of the non-medical use of methylphenidate and knowledge of this drug among undergraduate medical students of the University of the Free State.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A self-administered, anonymous questionnaire was distributed during lectures to all students in the five year groups of the undergraduate medical programme.Results: Of the 643 undergraduate medical students, 541 completed the questionnaire (response rate: 84.1%). Approximately 11.0% of surveyed students were using methylphenidate at the time of the study, of which the majority (67.9%) used it for academic purposes and 70.6% received it from a medical health professional. Less than a third of users had been diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Methylphenidate users’ median knowledge was greater than non-users, and methylphenidate knowledge increased from first-year and second-year students to third-year to fifth-year students. Median knowledge scores per year group ranged from 52.0% to 60.0%.Conclusion: Methylphenidate is mainly used for non-medical purposes by medical students. Students generally have a low level of knowledge on methylphenidate. Specific information on methylphenidate should be included in lectures on stress management and study methods during the course of the medical curriculum.

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Gender difference in resilience among the under graduate medical students – A cross sectional study

International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences ◽

10.26452/ijrps.v11ispl2.2057 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (SPL2) ◽

pp. 21-24

Author(s):

Mahati Sundar ◽

Archana R

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Gender Difference ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Female Students ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Male And Female ◽

Second Year

A health professional requires resilience to be able to handle the depression, anxiety and stress, which may occur when they are in the field. Resilience is theability to tackle and overcome difficulties, with personal transformation and growth. Studies in undergraduate medical students have shown a difference in the stress scores of males and females, showing the possibility of gender difference in coping strategies and resilience. Therefore, the objective of the study was to assess the resilience scores of undergraduate medical students and to find out the existence of gender differences in their resilience scores. A cross-sectional study was conducted among the first and second-year MBBS students of 18-25 years of age after obtaining informed consent and Institutional ethical clearance. All willing male and female students fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria formed the study participants. A standard resilience questionnaire was used to assess the resilience scores of the students and the male and female participants scores were noted separately. A total of of282 first and second-year undergraduate medical students participated in the study. A significantly higher percentage of female students had a high resilience score in comparison to male participants. Our study highlights the fact that females have a higher resilience compared to males. But still, the majority of male and female students are having moderate resilience. Thus, the future focus should be on the promotion of resilience-building measures to be taught to the students early in their medical curriculum to successfully tackle the stressful situations.

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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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A Cross-sectional Study Investigating Learning Approaches in Undergraduate Medical Education

10.21203/rs.2.12525/v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Aya Akhras ◽

Waseem Wahood ◽

Fatemeh Abdulrahman Amir Rad ◽

Christopher Tuffnell ◽

David Davis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Learning Approaches ◽

Strategic Learning ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Teaching Approaches ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Initial Results

Abstract Objective The primary objective of this proof-of-concept cross-sectional study was to identify a framework for appraising the learning-approaches of undergraduate medical students in a competency based medical curriculum and correlating the results with teaching-approaches, as well as academic performance. The study was pursued at MBRU, which is a medical school in the Middle East with an undergraduate entry medical program. Results Our framework was blueprinted using the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) questionnaire, to which we made some modifications such that the overall cogency of the questionnaire wasn’t affected. Initial results with modified ASSIST at MBRU showed that most of our students adopted Deep or Strategic-learning approaches. This observation is in line with other studies in the literature, which shows that modified ASSIST is a suitable tool for mapping generic learning approaches with teaching approaches. Further, based on the insights from our initial results following the implementation of modified ASSIST, we have considered specific pedagogical strategies, in practice at MBRU, which cater to the generic learning approaches of majority of our undergraduate medical students. These pedagogical approaches, A. Feynman’s Technique; and B. Blended learning strategies, if implemented suitably in a curriculum will transform “Surface-learners” to “Deep/Strategic-learners”.

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