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Undergraduate Medical Students (undergraduate + medical_student)
Selected AbstractsAssessment of professional behaviour in undergraduate medical education: peer assessment enhances performanceMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 9 2007Johanna Schönrock-Adema Objectives, To examine whether peer assessment can enhance scores on professional behaviour, with the expectation that students who assess peers score more highly on professional behaviour than students who do not assess peers. Methods, Undergraduate medical students in their first and second trimesters were randomly assigned to conditions with or without peer assessment. Of the total group of 336 students, 278 students participated in the first trimester, distributed over 31 tutorial groups, 17 of which assessed peers. The second trimester involved 272 students distributed over 32 groups, 15 of which assessed peers. Professional behaviour was rated by tutors on 3 dimensions: Task Performance; Aspects of Communication, and Personal Performance. The rating scale ranged from 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent). Data were analysed using multivariate repeated measures multilevel analysis. Results, Assessment scores were found to have generally increased in the second trimester, especially the personal performance scores of students who assessed peers. In addition, female students were found to have significantly higher scores than male students. Conclusions, In undergraduate medical education, peer assessment has a positive influence on professional behaviour. However, the results imply that peer assessment is only effective after students have become adjusted to the complex learning environment. [source] Undergraduate medical students: who seeks formative feedback?MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 6 2007Hazel K Sinclair Objective, This study aimed to monitor which undergraduate students collected formative feedback on their degree essays and to quantify any correlations between gender or summative mark achieved and whether formative feedback was sought. Methods, We carried out a study at the University of Aberdeen Medical School, involving a total of 360 Year 3 students, comprising all 177 students in the 2004 cohort and 183 in 2005. Data on gender and summative mark were routinely collected during the degree assessment processes in March 2004 and 2005. Students signed on receipt of their feedback. Results, Less than half the students (46%) collected their formative feedback: 47% in 2004, and 45% in 2005. Overall, females were significantly more likely than males to seek formative feedback (P = 0.004). Higher achievers were significantly more likely than lower achievers to seek their feedback (P = 0.020). Conclusions, Our findings indicate that these medical students, particularly males and poor students, may not use assessment feedback as a learning experience. Female and better students are keener to seek out formative feedback that might be expected to help them continue to do well. We need to explore further why so many students do not access formative feedback, and develop strategies for addressing this issue effectively. [source] Impact of training periods in the emergency department on the motivation of health care students to learnMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 5 2009Thierry Pelaccia Objectives, Motivation is one of the most important factors for learning and achievement. The perceived value of the task, perceptions of self-efficacy and beliefs about control of learning are the main determinants of motivation. They are highly influenced by the individual's personal history and especially by significant past experiences. We assessed the impact of training periods in the emergency department on the motivation of health care students to learn in the field of emergency medicine. Methods, A survey was conducted in 2008 with 112 undergraduate medical students and 201 undergraduate nursing students attending an emergency medicine academic programme. At the beginning of the course, the students completed an anonymous 26-item questionnaire to assess their motivational orientations. Results, Perceived task value was higher for students who had previously attended a training period in the emergency department (P = 0.002). Perceived self-efficacy was depressed when the respondent had been confronted with negative outcome events (P < 0.001). Control of learning beliefs was affected negatively in students who had attended a training period in the emergency department (P < 0.001). Conclusions, Motivation is a major contributor to the success of learning. Training periods in the emergency department can have positive and negative impacts on the learning motivation of medical and nursing students in the field of emergency medicine. Ideally, and in terms of increasing motivation, health care students should gain experiential learning in the emergency department before attending a corresponding academic course. During this period, tutors should provide appropriate supervision and feedback in order to support self-efficacy perception and learning control beliefs. [source] Stress, debt and undergraduate medical student performanceMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 6 2006Sarah Ross Introduction, Against the background of current debate over university funding and widening access, we aimed to examine the relationships between student debt, mental health and academic performance. Methods, We carried out an electronic survey of all medical undergraduate students at the University of Aberdeen during May,June 2004. The questionnaire contained items about demographics, debt, income and stress. Students were also asked for consent to access their examination results, which were correlated with their answers. Statistical analyses of the relationships between debt, performance and stress were performed. Results, The median total outstanding debt was £7300 (interquartile range 2000,14 762.50). Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and postgraduate students had higher debts. There was no direct correlation between debt, class ranking or General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) score; however, a subgroup of 125 students (37.7%), who said that worrying about money affected their studies, did have higher debt and were ranked lower in their classes. Some of these students were also cases on the GHQ-12. Overall, however, cases on the GHQ had lower levels of debt and lower class ranking, suggesting that financial worries are only 1 cause of mental health difficulties. Discussion, Students' perceptions of their own levels of debt rather than level of debt per se relates to performance. Students who worry about money have higher debts and perform less well than their peers in degree examinations. Some students in this subgroup were also identified by the GHQ and may have mental health problems. The relationships between debt, mental health and performance in undergraduate medical students are complex but need to be appreciated by medical education policy makers. [source] ,I found myself to be a down to earth Dutch girl': a qualitative study into learning outcomes from international traineeshipsMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 7 2004Susan Niemantsverdriet Objective, To explore learning outcomes from international traineeships for undergraduate medical students. Methods, In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 undergraduate medical students at Maastricht University Medical School, the Netherlands. The 24 subjects were selected by purposeful sampling. Results, Students reported meaningful learning outcomes in 6 domains: medical knowledge; skills; international health care organisation; international medical education; society and culture, and personal growth. Discussion, International traineeships appear to provide good opportunities for students to meet the requirements of globalisation as well as some of the generic objectives of undergraduate medical education. The tentative findings of this study need to be confirmed by further studies. [source] Teaching and learning in the clinical setting: a qualitative study of the perceptions of students and teachersMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 11 2003Patsy Stark Objective, To describe the perceptions of medical students and clinical teachers of teaching and learning in the clinical setting. Design, Qualitative study of focus groups with undergraduate medical students and semistructured interviews with hospital consultant clinical teachers. Setting, The School of Medicine, University of Leeds and the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, UK. Participants, Fourth year medical students and consultant clinical teachers. Main outcome measures, Analysis of narratives to identify students' perceptions of clinical teaching and consultants' views of their delivery of undergraduate clinical teaching. Results, Students believed in the importance of consultant teaching and saw consultants as role models. However, they perceived variability in the quality and reliability of teaching between physicians and surgeons. Some traditional teaching venues, especially theatre, are believed to be of little clinical importance. Generally, consultants enjoyed teaching but felt under severe pressure from other commitments. They taught in a range of settings and used various teaching strategies, not all of which were perceived to be ,teaching' by students. Conclusions, While students and teachers are educational partners, they are not always in agreement about the quality, quantity, style or appropriate setting of clinical teaching. To enable teachers to provide more high quality teaching, there needs to be support, opportunities and incentives to understand curricular developments and acquire teaching skills. [source] Cardiopulmonary resuscitation training for undergraduate medical students: a five-year studyMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2002Colin A Graham Background Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training for undergraduate medical students and junior doctors has been noted to be poor in the past. Attempts have been made over the last decade to improve CPR training for all health professionals. Aim This study aimed to determine if CPR training for undergraduate medical students in a single institution improved after initial concerns in 1992, and to observe trends in CPR training over five years. Methods Prospective single centre observational cohort survey by means of a 2-page self completed questionnaire to final year undergraduate medical students at the University of Glasgow (1993,97 inclusive). Results Mean annual response rate 58% (range 48% , 67%). 99% of responders had been trained in basic life support during undergraduate training. The use of simulated arrests for training increased significantly. CPR training was concentrated in the first and final years. Training in all aspects of advanced life support increased, as did the students' confidence in these techniques. Student satisfaction with the amount of basic life support training increased very significantly and there was a small, but significant increase in student satisfaction with advanced life support training. Overall confidence at the prospect of being a member of the resuscitation team on qualification did not increase. Conclusions There has been a sustained improvement in CPR training at this institution since 1993. Improvements in the training of specific advanced life support techniques does not lead to improved overall confidence in using these skills on qualification. Advanced life support training requires further expansion. [source] A randomized, controlled, single-blind trial of teaching provided by a computer-based multimedia package versus lectureMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 9 2001Christopher Williams Background Computer-based teaching may allow effective teaching of important psychiatric knowledge and skills. Aims To investigate the effectiveness and acceptability of computer-based teaching. Method A single-blind, randomized, controlled study of 166 undergraduate medical students at the University of Leeds, involving an educational intervention of either a structured lecture or a computer-based teaching package (both of equal duration). Results There was no difference in knowledge between the groups at baseline or immediately after teaching. Both groups made significant gains in knowledge after teaching. Students who attended the lecture rated their subjective knowledge and skills at a statistically significantly higher level than students who had used the computers. Students who had used the computer package scored higher on an objective measure of assessment skills. Students did not perceive the computer package to be as useful as the traditional lecture format, despite finding it easy to use and recommending its use to other students. Conclusions Medical students rate themselves subjectively as learning less from computer-based as compared with lecture-based teaching. Objective measures suggest equivalence in knowledge acquisition and significantly greater skills acquisition for computer-based teaching. [source] What do medical students read and why?MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 8 2000A survey of medical students in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England Objectives There is increasing interest in the role of medical humanities within the undergraduate curriculum, but we know little about medical students' views on this or about their reading habits. Our study explored the reading habits of medical students, and their attitudes towards literature and the introduction of humanities into the curriculum. Design Self-completion questionnaire survey. Setting Newcastle University and Medical School. Subjects All first-, second- and third-year undergraduate medical students (384), biology students (151) and a random sample of law students (137) were sent a self-completion questionnaire to assess reading levels, attitudes towards literature and the medical humanities (medical students) and the perceived benefits of reading. Results Medical students read widely beyond their course and articulate a range of benefits from this, including: increasing awareness of life outside their experience; introspection or inspiration; emotional responses; and stimulation of an interest in reading or literature. Of the medical students, 40% (103/258) read one or more fiction books per month, but 75% (193) read fewer non-curricular books since starting university, largely because of time pressures, work, study or academic pressures and restricted access to books. A total of 77% (194) thought that medical humanities should definitely or possibly be offered in the curriculum, but of these 73% (141) thought it should be optional and 89% (172) that it should not be examined. Conclusions Medical students read literature for a variety of very positive and valued reasons, but have found leisure reading harder to maintain since starting university. They support inclusion of the humanities in medical education, but have mixed views on how this should be done. [source] Comparison of methods for teaching clinical skills in assessing and managing drug-seeking patientsMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 4 2000Taverner Aims New medical graduates lack clinical skills in assessing and managing patients seeking drugs of dependence. This study compares the effectiveness of three different clinical skills training methods, with similar content, which were developed to teach these skills to senior medical students. Methods A preliminary survey indicated that common problems seen by primary care practitioners included both new and previously known patients seeking either benzodiazepines or opiates. The common content of the teaching was determined from this survey. A didactic small group tutorial (DT), a video-based tutorial (VBT) using professional actors, and a computer-aided instruction package using digitized video (CAI) were developed with this common content, and trialled with undergraduate medical students over 2 years in a parallel-group design. Outcome was assessed by student feedback, performance on a case-based written examination and by a structured evaluation of interviews with simulated patients requesting drugs. Comparison was also made between methods on the basis of knowledge tests. Results No difference was seen in written examination and simulated patient outcomes between the three groups. However, the VBT was thought by the students to be preferable to other methods. The estimated development costs of CAI were higher, but total costs over a 6-year period were lower than for the DT and VBT. The results suggest that clinical skills can be taught equally effectively through several different methods. Collaboration between institutions in the development of widely applicable CAI tools should be an efficient and economical mode of teaching with a wide range of applications. [source] Teachers: Recognising Excellence in Medical Education: a student-led award schemeTHE CLINICAL TEACHER, Issue 3 2010Nicola Louise Wheeler Summary Background:, The standard of clinical teaching is acknowledged by undergraduate medical students and their clinical teachers as being variable.1 Furthermore, there is very little recognition by medical schools of the teaching expertise and efforts of clinical teachers.2 Innovation:, In response to these issues, a group of medical students at the University of Birmingham's Medical School have established an awards scheme called Recognising Excellence in Medical Education (REME). This is a student-led award scheme that is supported by the Dean and other senior medical school staff, and by the students' medical society. Method:, This research used two focus groups, one comprising REME award winners and one comprising students who voted in the scheme, to discuss opinions regarding the awards, reasons why the students voted, and how clinical teachers feel about receiving the awards. Discussion:, The focus groups revealed that both students and their clinical teachers were very positive about the award scheme and the impact it has had, both personally and within the hospitals or Trusts of the award winners. The REME awards were viewed as motivating and encouraging for clinical teachers, and were particularly prized as teachers were nominated by their students. [source] Measuring conscientiousness and professionalism in undergraduate medical studentsTHE CLINICAL TEACHER, Issue 1 2010John McLachlan Summary Background:, There is gathering evidence that concern about professionalism expressed by staff with regard to undergraduate medical students represents a statistically significant risk factor for referral for disciplinary action in later clinical practice. But, ,professionalism' as a concept is variously defined, and is generally seen as difficult to measure. This is because such measures are usually highly subjective, and take place on limited numbers of occasions. We are interested in hints from the literature that a significant part of professionalism is what might be thought of as diligence or conscientiousness. Methods:, We award students points on every occasion when they might be conscientious in performing simple tasks (such as attending compulsory sessions, providing essential documentation and participating in required administrative procedures). This is aggregated over the year to give a continuous, objective and multi-occasion score that is inexpensive to construct. We then determine the relationship of this score with independent staff and student estimates of professionalism. Results:, We observe a positive correlation between conscientiousness and professionalism at both high and low ends of the spectrum. Discussion:, This correlation raises a number of further questions. What is the sensitivity and specificity of this measure? How might it best be used with students: as a formative tool to change behaviours or as a summative tool to affect progression? And how will students react to its use? Finally, can it be extended to spheres other than undergraduate education, for instance with postgraduate trainees? [source] | ||||||||||