Training Of Medical Students Research Articles

Calculation of the Cost of Training Medical Students in One of the AJA Universities of Medical Sciences Using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing Method

Background: Estimating the total cost of services is crucial for utilizing available resources more efficiently and effectively. By employing the time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) method, not only can costs be calculated, but also the efficiency and unused capacity of resources can be assessed. Objectives: This study aimed to calculate the cost of education for each medical student at one of the AJA Medical sciences Universities in 2022 using the TDABC method. Methods: This quantitative study was conducted cross-sectionally and retrospectively in a descriptive-analytical manner. The data were collected and analyzed through interviews and observations. To analyze and allocate costs, administrative and educational departments were categorized into three levels: Overhead, intermediate, and final activity centers. Then, using the TDABC approach in Microsoft Excel 2013 software costs from the overhead and intermediate activity centers to the final activity center and students. Results: The study estimated the average cost of educating each medical student to be approximately IRR 6 267 568 065. Additionally, the unused capacity of resources in overhead and intermediate centers was observed to be 30% (range: 4 - 44%) and 33% (range: 26 - 43%), respectively. Conclusions: The findings indicated that the cost per student is somewhat reasonable; however, there is a high level of unused capacity in the university and faculty activity centers. The effective management of human resources and equipment is necessary to enhance service delivery processes, increase productivity, and reduce unused capacity.

C-CASE 2023: Promoting Excellence in Surgical Education01. Near-peer tutoring: an effective adjunct for virtual anatomy learning02. Surgical Exploration and Discovery: perspectives on student-led debriefs in undergraduate surgical education03. How are emotions of medical residents and faculty in general surgery affected by new assessment mandates implemented in medical education?04. Equity, diversity and inclusion in medical residency: a Web-based analysis of Canadian

C-CASE 2023: Promoting Excellence in Surgical Education01. Near-peer tutoring: an effective adjunct for virtual anatomy learning02. Surgical Exploration and Discovery: perspectives on student-led debriefs in undergraduate surgical education03. How are emotions of medical residents and faculty in general surgery affected by new assessment mandates implemented in medical education?04. Equity, diversity and inclusion in medical residency: a Web-based analysis of Canadian

How to break bad news and how to learn this skill: results from an international North-Eastern German Society for Gynecological Oncology (NOGGO) survey among physicians and medical students with 1089 participants

BackgroundDelivering bad news to patients is one of the most challenging tasks in medical practice. Despite its great relevance to patients, relatives, and medical staff, there is a paucity of...

Early clinical training for medical students: A rationale approach

Early clinical training for medical students: A rationale approach

Challenges To Professionalism Amongst Medical Students in Their Undergraduate Curriculum

Practicing medicine is a stressful and complex process, wherein a lot is expected of the doctors and they have to be professional in their approach while discharging their duties. Acknowledging the importance of professionalism in medical practice, the practice of teaching and assessing professionalism has begun in most medical institutions. Even though a humble beginning has been made, in various settings it has been reported that medical students and/or doctors don’t behave professionally in their workplace. A wide range of challenges involving different stakeholders have been identified that play their part in hindering the medical students and practicing doctors to discharge their role as a professional. To conclude, professionalism is an important trait for all medical students to become successful in their clinical practice. However, the pathway to train medical students in professionalism is full of challenges. The need of the hour is to identify these challenges and devise solutions to overcome them to strengthen the overall process of training and assessment.

Analysis of Influencing Factors of Community Internship of Students Who Received Free Medical Training

Objective: To understand the profession, the purpose of community internship, the mastery of general medicine theory, and the factors affecting community internship among students receiving free medical training (hereinafter referred to as the free medical students). Methods: Taking medical students of a particular school in 2012, 2013, and 2014 as the survey subjects, electronic questionnaires were issued using the “Star Questionnaire” platform. Results: A total of 225 electronic questionnaires were collected. Univariate and linear regression analyses were conducted on the basic understanding of the profession and community internship. Pearson correlation coefficient analysis was also conducted to analyze the factors affecting community internships of free medical students. In terms of mastery of general medicine theory, 35.56% of the students mastered medical history collection and case writing skills. The understanding and mastery of clinical diagnosis and treatment methods, basic principles of general medicine, service models, and family-based management are relatively low, with percentages of 14.67%, 13.78%, and 12.89%, respectively. Conclusion: In the training of general medical students, it is important to provide strong guidance for their career planning. This will help them gain a better understanding and appreciation of the field of general medicine. Additionally, increasing their awareness of the role of general practitioners in the community is crucial. The focus of their training should be on developing clinical diagnosis and treatment skills, as well as fostering a patient-centered approach to healthcare.

Teaching Medical Anthropology in UK Medical Schools: Cultivating Autoethnographic Practice among Medical Students

Behavioural and social sciences (BSS) are a core component of undergraduate medical education in the United Kingdom. Despite the formal recognition of BSS by the UK’s General Medical Council (GMC), anthropology remains largely at the periphery in the medical curriculum. Medical students often describe it as ‘fluffy’ or as ‘common sense’, in comparison to biomedical learning content. To make anthropology more relevant and applicable to future clinical practice, we draw on ethnographic data (interviews, focus groups, field notes and reflective texts written by medical students) collected by an anthropologist during fieldwork in two UK medical schools. We suggest moving this content out of the preclinical phase and instead incorporating it into the clinical phase. Specifically, we propose that having students conduct a micro-autoethnography during the clinical phase brings together two crucial aspects of medical student training: BSS principles and formation of a professional identity. Embedding these concepts in this specific context will allow students to process tensions they may feel between interactions they observe in a clinical context and team versus what they have been formally taught. This process allows them to negotiate their own professional identity between practice and ideal while more robustly situating BSS content in a relevant and immediately applicable manner within the current constraints of the medical curriculum.

Effect of Stress Management Training on the Mental Health of Medical Students and Interns Training Centers During the Pandemic: An Intervention Study

Background: Medical students, as a part of the first line of combating COVID-19, have been exposed to harm caused by mental disorders. Objectives: This study investigated how stress management training affects the mental health of medical students and interns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 Methods: sixteen training and internship students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences from 2020-2021 were included in this intervention study. The intervention group completed the stress management training course in 6 sessions. Mental health dimensions were collected with the SCL90 questionnaire before and after intervention in both groups. SPSS 22 software and Mann-Whitney U-test, Wilcoxon, Chi-square, and Fisher’s exact test were utilized for data analysis.
 Results: The basic data showed no significant differences between groups (P > 0.05). After the intervention, the mean scores of physical complaint, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal relations, depression, anxiety, aggression, fear, paranoid and psychotic dimensions in the intervention group significantly decreased (P < 0.05). In controls, the obsessive-compulsive, depression, anxiety, and aggression dimensions significantly decreased (P < 0.05). However, in controls, there was no significant difference in the mean score of other dimensions before and after intervention (P > 0.05). Before the intervention, the frequency distribution of various levels of sensitivity to interpersonal relationships in the two studied groups was the same (P > 0.05); after the intervention, these levels were significantly different between groups (P < 0.05). After intervention, the control group had a higher frequency distribution of individuals with degrees of depression (P < 0.05).
 Conclusions: The mental health of medical internship students during a crisis can be improved by stress management training, which reduces anxiety and depression. Therefore, stress management courses are recommended in stressful situations.

Obstetric-Focused POCUS Training for Medical Students

Obstetric-Focused POCUS Training for Medical Students

Telemedicine perception and interest among medical students at the University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2023

BackgroundTelemedicine is becoming an integral part of healthcare. Training medical students in telemedicine is encouraged by many medical organizations. However, in the United Arab Emirates in particular, most medical schools have not incorporated it into their curriculum. Therefore, this study aims to assess medical students’ perceptions and interest in telemedicine teaching at the University of Sharjah, UAE.MethodsA questionnaire-based survey was built based on the current literature and was distributed to all medical students at the University of Sharjah between February and March 2023. The questionnaire assessed the participants for their demographic data, access to and use of digital devices, exposure to and beliefs related to telemedicine, and their medical school experience with distance learning and telemedicine. The data were analyzed via simple statistics, and the Chi-square test was used to assess the associated factors affecting the participants’ interest in receiving telemedicine teaching.ResultsThe questionnaire had a 70.4% (547/777) response rate. The mean age (SD) of the participants was 20.7 years (1.57), and the majority were female (68.4%). Over 98% of the students reported having easy access to and being comfortable with using computers and the internet. Most students (90.5%) believed that the medical school curriculum should include teaching in telemedicine; however, 78.2% of these students stated that it should be included as an elective course. The participants’ interest in receiving teaching in telemedicine had a statistically significant association with the following factors: being female, being familiar with telemedicine, having read literature on telemedicine, having beliefs that telemedicine is an opportunity to improve current medical practice, that its use should be encouraged, that it has an important role to play in healthcare, that it does not pose greater threat to current medical practice, having a preference to continue distance learning at medical school and having an interest in incorporating telemedicine in their future careers.ConclusionsIt is an ideal time to incorporate telemedicine into the medical curriculum at the University of Sharjah with most students expressing interest in it. However, further research is needed to assess its applicability to other medical schools in the country and elsewhere.

Lecturers’ Beliefs and Perceptions on Formative Assessment and Their Practice in Training Medical Students in a Malaysian University

Introduction: Formative assessment refers to frequent evaluation of student attainment to identify learning needs. It is crucial for the development of soft skills and improvement in learning progress in the classroom. However, the practice is still lacking and undervalued in medical education. This study aims to determine the level of beliefs and perceived practices of formative assessment among lecturers teaching undergraduate medical programme in a Malaysian university. Methods: A self-administered 27-item questionnaire was distributed to 62 lecturers in a medical school in Selangor, Malaysia. They were required to indicate their agreement and frequency on each item that describes their beliefs on the importance and practice of formative assessment in the medical programme. All data was analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics software version 26. Results: Majority of the respondents indicated that the assessment was conducted frequently during small group sessions (64.5%), through written examination (59.7%) and during practical classes (53.2%). The respondents rated positively on the importance and practice of formative assessment. The score of formative assessment practice through scaffolding was significantly higher than monitoring (Z = 944.5, p < 0.001). There was no significant correlation between beliefs and practice of formative assessment (r(62) = 0.213, p = 0.097). Additionally, the duration of service had no significant association with their perception and practice of formative assessment (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study suggested that regardless of their level of experience, lecturers exhibited a positive perception of and engagement with formative assessment in training medical students. A substantial improvement of peer and self-assessment practices is warranted to foster student autonomy and accountability on their learning.

Assessing Patient Goals for Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy: A Standardized Patient Case for Medical Students.

Inadequate coverage of transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) health in the UME curriculum contributes to the scarcity of competent physicians to care for TGD patients. Increasing TGD health skills-based curricula in UME can help address TGD health disparities. We developed a standardized patient (SP) case to assess TGD health skills-based competencies and attitudes among medical students. An interdisciplinary team, including individuals with lived TGD experience, developed the SP case that was completed by second-year medical students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in January 2020. After the TGD SP session, students and faculty completed a postsession survey to assess the degree to which the case met the learning objectives. Students were assessed via self-reports, faculty reports, and SP video evaluations. Seventy second-year medical students, 30 faculty facilitators, and eight SPs participated in 2020. Students reported being significantly more prepared to care for TGD patients (Z = -5.68, p < .001) and to obtain a gender history (Z = -5.82, p < .001). Both faculty and students felt that skills for caring for TGD patients were important in medical education and agreed the case should remain in the curriculum. The case effectively honed and assessed students' ability to collect a gender history and discuss goals for hormone therapy with TGD patients. It should complement ongoing curricula to effectively train medical students in TGD health care. Developing these skills in students directly addresses the barriers that many TGD patients experience in health care settings.

Comparison of simulation and video-based training for acute asthma

BackgroundEmergency medicine is particularly well suited to simulation training. However, evidence for the efficacy of simulation-based medical training remains limited especially to manage high-risk cases such as acute asthma.ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to compare the performance of high-fidelity simulation (HFS) and interactive video-case challenge-based training (IVC) for final-year medical students in the management of acute asthma.MethodsThis was a prospective randomized controlled study conducted at the emergency department (ED) of Monastir University hospital ( Tunisia). 69 final-year medical students were randomized to HFS (n = 34) and IVC (n = 35) training on acute asthma topic. The study was conducted over a 1-week period. Efficacy of each teaching method was compared through the use of multiple-choice questionnaires (MCQ) before (pre-test), after (post-test) training and a simulation scenario test conducted 1 week later. The scenario was based on acute asthma management graded on predefined critical actions using two scores: the checklist clinical score (range 0 to 30), and the team skills score (range 0 to 16). Student satisfaction was also evaluated with the Likert 5 points scale. Two years after the post-test, both groups underwent a third MCQ testing to assess sustainability of knowledge.ResultsThere were no differences in age between groups. There was no statistically significant difference between the HFS and IVC groups pre-test scores (p = 0.07). Both groups demonstrated improvement in MCQ post-test from baseline after training session; the HFS MCQ post-test score increased significantly more than the IVC score (p < 0.001). The HFS group performed better than the IVC group on the acute asthma simulation scenario (p < 0.001). Mean checklist clinical score and mean team skills score were significantly higher in HFS group compared to IVC group (respectively 22.9 ± 4.8 and 11.5 ± 2.5 in HFS group vs 19.1 ± 3 and 8.4 ± 3.1 in IVC group) (p < 0.001). After 2 years, MCQ post-test scores decreased in both groups but the decrease was lower in HFS group compared to the IVC group.ConclusionHigh-fidelity simulation-based training was superior to interactive video-case challenge for teaching final year medical students,and led to more long-term knowledge retention in the management of simulated acute asthma patients.Trial registrationThe study was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT02776358 on 18/05/2016.

Association between empathy, anxiety and psychological well-being in Mexican medical students. Transversal study.

The expression of empathy improves the quality of health care, which is why its instruction is suggested during the years of academic training of medical students. However, expressing empathy can also cause anxiety and impair psychological well-being. To identify profiles that describe the relationship between empathy, anxiety and psychological well-being in Mexican medical students. Cross-sectional study in Mexican medical students completed the Multidimensional Empathy Scale, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Psychological Well-Being Scale for Adults. Women presented greater empathy and anxiety and lower psychological well-being (p < 0.01). Anxiety in students of the last year of training was lower compared to students of the first and second year (p < 0.01). Four profiles were detected: 1) men, minimal anxiety, low empathy; 2) first-year students, moderate to severe anxiety, low psychological well-being, high empathy; 3) last year of training, mild anxiety, adequate psychological well-being, medium empathy; 4) women, second and third year of training, very high empathy. Medical students in their first year of training constitute a population at risk. Attention strategies are necessary for this student group.

Understanding the relevance of surgical specialties in undergraduate medical education: Insights of graduates.

The relevance of training medical students in surgical specialty services has been a matter of debate in contexts where the health care system focuses on primary health care. Some educators argue that medical students should be trained in primary care settings. Other educators assert that rotating in highly complex hospitals strengthens the competencies of future general practitioners. Nonetheless, little attention has been paid to the added value that rotations in surgical specialties have brought to newly graduated doctors' lives. In this study, we explored the perceptions of a group of graduates by focusing on the relevant experiences they had during their surgical specialty rotations in undergraduate medical training and how this training influenced their personal and professional life. We conducted a qualitative study using a convenience sampling strategy to recruit a total of seven junior doctors. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews in 2022. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data until code saturation was reached. The recurring themes were (1) perception of rotations, (2) valuable learning for medical practice and (3) defining their professional future. Participants felt that their experiences in surgical specialty rotations were beneficial, as they gained confidence to perform professionally and decide on future employment and strengthened their research and primary healthcare competencies. Although training in primary healthcare centres is crucial in undergraduate medical education, these results suggest that including rotations in surgical specialties may be valuable in enhancing the future careers of junior doctors.

The IUSM Medical Education Scholarly Concentration: Training Medical Students to Become Future Clinical Educators.

Indiana University School of Medicine - Bloomington launched the Medical Education Scholarly Concentration in 2020. This application-based enrichment program trains medical students to become effective clinical educators through pedagogical coursework, introduction to education research methods, and the development of a scholarly concentration product for publication.

Older Taiwanese Volunteers as Standardized Patients: Service Motivation, Identity Formation, and Internal Transformation.

Most standardized patients (SPs) in Taiwan are middle-aged or older volunteers with a high retention rate and selflessly devote themselves to the service. This study explored the psychological process behind the continued altruistic behaviors of SPs to understand the formation of service motivation, professional identity, and internal transformation. Sixteen volunteers, aged 50 to 70 years, who served as SPs for 3 to 11 years in a religious hospital were enrolled in this study. Individual semistructured interviews were conducted. Each person was interviewed for approximately 120 minutes. We used a thematic analysis to analyze the interview transcripts. We identified 3 major themes and 8 subthemes. The first theme, SPs' service motivation, included the following 3 subthemes: past medical experiences, acquisition of medical knowledge, and emotional connections. The second theme, SPs' identity formation, included the following 3 subthemes: role recognition, work ethic, and a sense of religious mission. The third theme, SPs' physical and psychological support, included 2 subthemes: internal transformation and personal well-being. The interview results showed doctor-patient or life experiences served as the impetus prompting SPs to engage in such altruistic behavior. In addition, identity formation endowed older SPs with a life purpose and a sense of fulfillment and self-actualization through fostering and training medical students. In addition, a clear recognition of the role of an SP and self-worth helped volunteers mitigate any physical and mental problems caused by negative life experiences. Standardized patients continued to complete their tasks with a positive attitude.

Innovative Curriculum to Train Medical Students on Lateral Canthotomy and Cantholysis.

Orbital compartment syndrome (OCS) is an ocular emergency requiring prompt decompression with a lateral canthotomy and cantholysis (LCC) within 2 hours. This study evaluates the feasibility and effectiveness of a standardized LCC curriculum to train medical students to identify and treat OCS. This was a prospective, non-randomized, non-comparative cohort study of 39 novice first-year medical students with no prior LCC training who underwent a standardized LCC curriculum incorporating both didactic and hands-on procedural training. Didactic knowledge of orbital anatomy and OCS was evaluated with written pre- and post-knowledge testing. Expert performance criteria were determined by expert consensus based on the performance of three oculoplastic surgeons and were defined as correctly performing all 12 critical checklist steps of an LCC within 3 minutes twice consecutively on a Sonalyst LCC training system eye model. Utilizing the principles of mastery learning, participants learned how to perform an LCC in a classroom environment and were evaluated on a final test of proficiency in a training lane designed to simulate an austere military environment. Participants required a median of 3.0 practice iterations to achieve expert performance in the classroom environment. During the testing phase, all participants correctly identified the eye with OCS, and 77% (n = 30) of learners successfully performed an LCC at the expert level within their first attempt. The median completion time of those who passed on their first testing was 130 seconds. The mean LCC knowledge test scores significantly improved from 48.7% to 71.2% (P < .001). This study successfully developed a standardized LCC curriculum utilizing the principles of hands-on mastery learning to train novice learners to perform an LCC efficiently and effectively.

Educating Medical Students on How to Prescribe Anti-Hyperglycaemic Drugs: A Practical Guide

In the light of the rapidly increasing global incidence of, and therapeutic arsenal for, diabetes type 2, this brief report underscores the need for advancements in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) education with regard to diabetes type 2. We advocate for the comprehensive training of medical students and junior doctors in line with current guidelines, and emphasize the importance of teaching how to draw up individualized treatment plans based on patients’ specific risk factors and conditions, such as cardiovascular risks, weight, and risk of hypoglycaemia. Within the curriculum, traditional teaching approaches should be replaced by innovative methods such as problem-based learning, which has been shown to be more effective in developing prescribing knowledge and skills. The inclusion of real-world experience and interprofessional learning via so-called student-run clinics is also recommended. Subsequently, innovative assessment methods like the European Prescribing Exam and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE) are highlighted as essential for evaluating knowledge and practical skills. By adopting these educational advances, medical education can better equip future practitioners to adequately manage the complex pharmacological treatment of diabetes.

Impact of clinical rotational posting on attitude toward psychiatry of undergraduate medical students in Malaysia.

Almost all over the world, psychiatry training of undergraduate medical students has been criticized to be deficient in imparting required knowledge and improving the perception of students towards psychiatry and psychiatric treatment. Considering the large mental health need gap in the community, it is essential to improve undergraduate students' attitude toward psychiatry. Hence, this study was planned to study the impact of psychiatry clinical posting on attitude toward psychiatry of undergraduate medical students. Undergraduate medical students undergoing psychiatry posting were assessed on the first and last day of clinical posting with the help of semi-structured proforma consisting of sociodemographic information, favored future career choice, the relevance of psychiatry to their future careers, the usefulness of particular knowledge and skills, the value of knowledge of psychiatric specialties and the utility of different settings for learning psychiatry. After their clinical posting, students had a more positive attitude towards the usefulness of psychiatry knowledge in future general practice and the usefulness of psychiatry knowledge from undergraduate training in the future. Knowledge of alcohol withdrawal management, detection and management of delirium, and Mental Health Acts were perceived more essential in the future. Also, specialties such as deaddiction and child and adolescent psychiatry were felt more useful in future practice. After posting, students perceived that psychiatry can also be learned at medical and surgical wards as well as during home visits. However, despite some positive changes in attitude toward psychiatry, there was no significant change in choosing psychiatry as a career by the students after posting. Undergraduate psychiatry training during clinical posting was able to make some positive changes in the knowledge and attitude of students. However, still, there were lacunae in some areas of concern. Preference of psychiatry as a branch of specialization was not increased after posting. This indicates the need for better reforms in psychiatry education at the undergraduate level to improve the perception of undergraduate students about psychiatry.