Perception of medical students to learning methods in internal medicine: A pilot survey from Northern Nigerian University

Abstract

Medical education aims to produce graduates who have knowledge and problem-solving skills with the professional attitude necessary to function as a doctor. We evaluated the perception of clinical medical students to their learning environment in internal medicine. A cross sectional study conducted during the intermediate clerkship posting on Medical students of Bayero University, Kano using a 20-item self-administered questionnaire adopted from the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM). The internal consistency of the questionnaire was calculated using the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient. Principal components analysis was used for data reduction and grouping using the varimax rotation method. One hundred and twenty clinical medical students of Bayero University, Kano participated in the study with a mean age ± SD of the respondents was 23.6±2.3 years. A higher proportion of the students (60.8%) were males. The internal consis tency of the 20-items questionnaire was 0.82 measured using the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient. The mean perception score of the respondents to undergraduate learning environment in internal medicine was 42.3 (out of maximum of 60) which showed satisfaction with their learning environment. Perception of Male students was more positive compared to their female colleagues (43 vs. 41, P=0.836). Medical students perceived their learning environment in internal medicine as satisfactory, which buttress the need to further strengthen the curriculum, in order to prepare them for the enormous challenges of clinical practice.