Atefeh Ghanbari; Fariba Asgari; Mahdokhat Taheri
Volume 8, Issue 2 , January 2012, , Pages 159-166
Abstract
Background & Objectives: In the world of information technology tendency toward using electronic learning as a novel learning style is increasing The contribution to electronic learning is dependent on the knowledge and attitude of faculty members toward this issue The aim of this study was to find ...
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Background & Objectives: In the world of information technology tendency toward using electronic learning as a novel learning style is increasing The contribution to electronic learning is dependent on the knowledge and attitude of faculty members toward this issue The aim of this study was to find the knowledge and attitude of faculty members in Guilan University of Medical Sciences toward electronic learning Methods: In this descriptive crosssectional study by using census sampling all faculty members in Guilan University of Medical Sciences were studied of whom 220 ones eventually responded to the questionnaire Data collection instrument was a questionnaire consisted of 4 sections of demographic features (5 questions) computer knowledge (6 questions) attitudetesting items (10 questions based on Likert scale) and questions related to the facilities (8 yes/no questions) Competency (9 questions) Content validity and reliability were determined by α cronbach Data analysis was performed by SPSS 16 software package Results: The majority of respondents had sufficient knowledge (683%) and positive attitude (894%) From all 695% asserted that they have the required computer skills but 95% said that they do not have enough facilities in home and university for using electronic sources Conclusion : Positive attitude of faculty members toward electronic learning requires implementation of continuous education programs for faculty members in order to improve their knowledge about information technology and uptodate electronic learning skills
Mitra Gharib; Mohammad Reza Sarmadi; Issa Ebrahimzadeh; Hossein Zare; Amir Hossein Emami; Atoosa Gharib
Volume 8, Issue 1 , July 2011, , Pages 22-32
Abstract
Background & Objective: As enrollment in virtual online courses continues to grow one of the stakeholders concerns is the enhancement of critical thinking in students This study was performed in order to answer this core question: what are the barriers and facilitating factors of critical thinking ...
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Background & Objective: As enrollment in virtual online courses continues to grow one of the stakeholders concerns is the enhancement of critical thinking in students This study was performed in order to answer this core question: what are the barriers and facilitating factors of critical thinking in virtual environment? Methods: This qualitative study is part of a mixed qualitative and quantitative study performed for developing the process of teaching critical thinking in virtual medical education program in which 7 eteachers and 11 postgraduate estudents (out of a total of 12 students) of virtual medical education discipline were investigated Data were gathered using a semistructured questionnaire All interviews were taperecorded transcribed and then analyzed using Strauss and Corbins constant comparative method Results: Participants had a variety of experiences about critical thinking improvement that were conceptualized in three major themes of: belief system including personal beliefs and aspects that are considered as constant during a short time period educational management including factors that can be manipulated by the educational leaders and critical thinking in virtual environment including motivating and limiting factors of critical thinking Conclusion: The results of this study highlight the barriers and facilitating factors of enhancing critical thinking in virtual environment Teachers educational planners and leaders can use the results of this study in order to improve their virtual programs and students critical thinking
Hasan Joolaee; Mahvash Alizadeh; Mohammad Hossein Fallahzadeh; Ali Baseri; Mehrab Sayadi
Volume 7, Issue 2 , January 2011, , Pages 92-98
Abstract
Background & Objective : Medical education provides an opportunity to train individuals for patient care Evaluation of physicians capabilities as an important part of each educational system can reflect the efficacy of Medical education curriculum and also continuous educational programs The aim ...
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Background & Objective : Medical education provides an opportunity to train individuals for patient care Evaluation of physicians capabilities as an important part of each educational system can reflect the efficacy of Medical education curriculum and also continuous educational programs The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical skills of family physicians in Fars/Iran by using Observed Structured Clinical Evaluation (OSCE) Methods : In this cross sectional study from a total of 320 physicians employed in the family physician project of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences 79 physicians were selected by systematic sampling and participated in 19 designed stations Data were gathered by a structured questionnaire with acceptable validity and reliability Correlation tests and ttest with significant level of 005 were used for data analysis Results : From 79 participants 49 ones (62%) were male The total OSCE score was 190 and the acquired mean score by participants was 113±15 There was a significant relationship between OSCE score and participants gender (0004) while no significant relationship was observed between OSCE score and variables of graduation place and employment status Conclusion : Poor capability of family physicians in providing good health care services requires several interventions for improving their clinical skills
Nozar Nakhaee; Ali Reza Saeed
Volume 7, Issue 2 , January 2011, , Pages 99-103
Abstract
Background & Objective : The 360degree evaluation method is used to assess residents performance by means other than attends opinions Resident evaluation instruments such as questionnaires for 360degree assessment should be feasible reliable and valid The aim of this study was to examine the feasibility ...
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Background & Objective : The 360degree evaluation method is used to assess residents performance by means other than attends opinions Resident evaluation instruments such as questionnaires for 360degree assessment should be feasible reliable and valid The aim of this study was to examine the feasibility and psychometric properties of the 360degree assessment questionnaires Methods : At first questionnaires were developed based on an extensive literature review and expert panel Sixitem questionnaires were distributed to a consecutive sample of residents (self & peers) medical students nurses and patients Mean scores of respondents in each category were calculated Cronbachs alpha was computed to examine the internal consistency Factor analysis was used to clarify the factoral structure of the data Spearman correlation coefficient was computed to examine the correlation between the evaluators scores Results : Except for faculty members and to some extent patients all evaluators completed the questionnaires The cronbachs alpha for all of the five instruments were above 095 Content validity was acceptable according to the literature reviews and expert panel Factor analysis revealed all six items loaded on a single factor A majority (80%) of correlation coefficients were not significant for evaluators scores Conclusion : Based on this pilot study 360degree assessment tools are feasible reliable and valid measures to evaluate core competencies of residents
Roghaieh Ershad Sarabi; Tahereh Eslami Nejad; Hajar Shafian
Volume 7, Issue 2 , January 2011, , Pages 119-126
Abstract
Background & Objective : Since evidencebased decision making is among essential issues in medical education it is expected that educational policy makers use the results of researches for improving the quality of health care services In this study Iranian journals of Medical Education were investigated ...
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Background & Objective : Since evidencebased decision making is among essential issues in medical education it is expected that educational policy makers use the results of researches for improving the quality of health care services In this study Iranian journals of Medical Education were investigated to determine the most frequent topics discussed in this field Methods : In this cross sectional study a total of 483 articles in three Iranian journals of Medical Education from 2000 to 2008 were investigated and their data including authors abstract subject research type and the involved university were entered in EXCEL for content analysis Results : form the 483 articles 8% (n=38) belonged to the Journal of Strides in Development of Medical Education published in Kerman University of Medical Sciences 60% (n=290) appeared in the Iranian journal of medical education published by Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and 32% (n=155) were in journal of Medical Education published by Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences The most frequent topics were respectively educational management (159 articles 33%) and teaching methods (128 articles 265%) while the least frequent topic (10 articles 21%) was communication skills Conclusion : Research priority in medical education should be considered
Mitra Amini; Mohammad Reza Dehghani; Javad Kojuri; Gholam Reza Safaee Ardekani; Mohammad Mehdi Sagheb; Mahboobeh Saber; Leila Bazrafcan; Zahra Karimian
Volume 6, Issue 2 , January 2010, , Pages 185-188
Abstract
Background & Objective : The importance of considering general trainings of students and gaining updated knowledge together with curriculum overload and large volume of lessons especially in medicine necessitate presenting most of the students educational needs in form of short term courses ...
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Background & Objective : The importance of considering general trainings of students and gaining updated knowledge together with curriculum overload and large volume of lessons especially in medicine necessitate presenting most of the students educational needs in form of short term courses Hence this study aimed to assess the participants point of view about the first national interdisciplinary summer school regarding achievement of educational objectives in Shiraz Methods : In overall 63 students from 13 universities of medical sciences participated in this course The topics were divided into four major groups including medical education medical ethics management ingenuity and creativity with their subgroups They were discussed in 83 issues during 100 working hours using lectures and other active educational methods Results : According to the students point of view the highest educational efficiency belonged to medical education and then to ingenuity and creativity More than 90% of executers mentioned that achieving educational objectives in each subgroup was very good or excellent According to the evaluation the mean score ( ± SD) of the programs executers and lecturers was 1897( ± 118) out of 20 Conclusion : Considering the effectiveness of this program continuing such a program allocating resources and developing them should be noticed in all universities
Abbas Bazargan
Volume 6, Issue 1 , July 2009, , Pages 81-88
Abstract
Background: Quality of higher education has been drawing more attention over the past two decades Hence concerted efforts have been increasingly made to assess and improve higher education quality worldwide Some of these attempts have led to establishing local national and international organizations ...
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Background: Quality of higher education has been drawing more attention over the past two decades Hence concerted efforts have been increasingly made to assess and improve higher education quality worldwide Some of these attempts have led to establishing local national and international organizations for assessment and accreditation Based on the above this study is discussing the answer to the question concerning “To what extent attempts towards quality assessment in Iran have been directed to establish a national agency for assessment and accreditation?” To address this question first ground breaking experiences experience of Iran in this regard are described Then international experiences and challenges of building a national quality assessment and accreditation in higher education system in general and in medical education in particular are reviewed Finally perspectives of establishing Iranian Universities Quality Network are analyzed Conclusion : Institution building in assessment and accreditation would help strengthening of ownership of quality assurance in faculty members as a result continuous quality assessment and improvement of higher education would become an integral part of higher education system
Kayghobad Tahernezhad; Fatemeh Javidan
Volume 5, Issue 1 , July 2008, , Pages 58-70
Abstract
Background: Assessment of clinical competencies is one of the complicated and hard tasks in medical education Nowadays assessment of clinical performance is significantly patient centered and student centered Traditional methods consisted of faculties observations oral examinations and multiplechoice ...
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Background: Assessment of clinical competencies is one of the complicated and hard tasks in medical education Nowadays assessment of clinical performance is significantly patient centered and student centered Traditional methods consisted of faculties observations oral examinations and multiplechoice tests Increased faculties workload discontent with traditional methods of clinical skill assessment and developments in the fields of psychology and education have led to the formation of new modalities in performance assessment methods with special definition Clinical competency is defined as the ability to gather information from the patient by history taking and physical examination integrating this information in order to make a diagnosis selecting appropriate laboratory tests to confirm the diagnosis and efficient disease management At the present time several fields for future direction of performance assessment in medical education are suggested including: a) Evidencebased locally developed assessments b) Understanding educational outcomes and noncognitive assessment factors c) Increase in studentdriven aspect of assessments Attempting to introduce new and advanced medical students clinical performance assessment methods according to the world accredited centers this article analyzed three mentioned directions in field of clinical performance assessment Conclusion : Improvement of performance assessment in local or national level is a complex issue which needs time cooperation recourses and fundamental attempts However this is the price to pay if we believe that clinical competency can improve quality of patient care
Mehdi Nematbakhsh; Babak Sabet; Pedram Rezaee; Ali Shekarchizadeh; Homayoon Naji
Volume 3, Issue 2 , January 2007, , Pages 69-77
Abstract
Background : Special attention to medical education and hospital expense were the main reasons to develop a new feefor service program (CARANEH) in educational hospitals The main objectives of this program were to improve medical education via encouraging faculty members and to support the educational ...
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Background : Special attention to medical education and hospital expense were the main reasons to develop a new feefor service program (CARANEH) in educational hospitals The main objectives of this program were to improve medical education via encouraging faculty members and to support the educational hospitals financially Objective : The objective of this study was to evaluate the opinions of clinical faculty members of Isfahan University of Medical Science about the efficacy of CARANEH program in providing educational services Methods : In this crosssectional study 69 clinical faculty members who were directly involved in medical education and CARANEH program were asked to fill out a questionnaire designed in four domains Results : According to the results faculty members did not have enough information about the content of CARANEH program Moreover 60% of the respondents believed that CARANEH had not increased attendance of clinical faculty members in their due educational activities In addition more than 65% believed that CARANEH had not improved undergraduate and postgraduate education According to the respondents major priorities in improving medical education are respectively improving educational facilities in hospital wards (875%) libraries (852%) and audiovisual section (843%) Conclusion : According to these results it seems that CARANEH program has been an unsuccessful program in improving medical education in educational hospitals Even though the theoretical concept of CARANEH had been based on improving medical education but practically the idea has not worked successfully Therefore its precise revision can increase its efficacy in this regard
Zahra Jalili; Esmat Nouhi; Nouzar Nakhaee
Volume 2, Issue 2 , January 2006, , Pages 80-87
Abstract
Background: Establishing centers for clinical skills training in medical schools with the purpose of improving students ability in practical skills has provided an adequate environment for practicing in an experimental setting and consequently can be effective in decreasing the rate of probable mistakes ...
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Background: Establishing centers for clinical skills training in medical schools with the purpose of improving students ability in practical skills has provided an adequate environment for practicing in an experimental setting and consequently can be effective in decreasing the rate of probable mistakes in real situations Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the opinions of interns in Kerman University of Medical Sciences about the rate and sources of acquired basic clinical skills through self evaluation Methods: All available interns of Kerman School of Medicine (including 120 ones) who had passed the clinical skills course participated in this cross sectional study in 2004 Data were gathered by an investigator made questionnaire and analyzed by using ttest and ANOVA Results: Based on the results most of the respondents (908%) believed in the necessity of a specific course as clinical skills in medical education program In regard to the rate of acquired skills “vital signs measurement” “nasogastric tube insertion” and “patient communication skills” got the highest mean scores (1835 1776 and 173 respectively) in interns selfevaluation while the lowest mean scores belonged to “cauterization” “intubation” and “using surgical set” (909 1284 and 1411 respectively) The percent of selfevaluation total score was 767% In regard to the source of acquiring clinical skills “clinical skills center” (41%) “self learning” (29%) and “professors and others” (27%) obtained the highest percents respectively Conclusion: Considering the low self evaluation scores in some skills and the highest percent for clinical skills center as source of acquiring clinical skills improving the quality of training in this center and expanding its activities are necessary
Ali Akbar Haghdoost; Zahra Jalili; Esmat Asadi Karam
Volume 2, Issue 2 , January 2006, , Pages 88-94
Abstract
Background: Although morning report is a wellknown term in medical education and one of the most practical clinical training methods there is not still consensus among experts on its standards Nonetheless it seems that the first step for improving the quality of this training method is to obtain a comprehensive ...
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Background: Although morning report is a wellknown term in medical education and one of the most practical clinical training methods there is not still consensus among experts on its standards Nonetheless it seems that the first step for improving the quality of this training method is to obtain a comprehensive picture of its current statue Objective: to assess the characteristics of morning reports (such as their durations participants and their responsibilities management of these sessions and…) in training hospitals affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2006 Methods: In this crosssectional study 36 morning report sessions held in all of the training wards were observed over one week Data were gathered by direct observation The observer attended the sessions as an ordinary participant and it was tried to use complete observer method Results: among 36 assessed morning reports the maximum sessions were held in major wards (each one held 5 sessions) The duration of the longest and shortest ones was 90 and 35 minutes respectively In 30 sessions the academic staff played the main role of managing discussions while in 5 sessions they were only asking questions and in one session staff presented a lecture In 13 sessions interns did not have any role in presenting patients the corresponding numbers for residents and students were 16 and 0 respectively In overall the number of participants in the beginning and at the end of sessions was more or less equal while around 14% of participants were not present during the whole period of the session Conclusion: Considerable variations were found among the training wards in running morning report sessions There were some weak points in running these sessions such as the frequency and duration of sessions low rate of participation by students and interns and reporting outpatient cases but most of the wards apply the training method more or less effectively
Hossein Safizadeh; Maryam Azimi
Volume 2, Issue 1 , July 2005, , Pages 40-49
Abstract
Background : Inappropriate nutrition has an important role in many pathological conditions including such common diseases as diabetes cancer and cardiovascular diseases Despite the recognition that physicians are often called upon to provide counseling in nutritional aspects of diseases nutrition does ...
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Background : Inappropriate nutrition has an important role in many pathological conditions including such common diseases as diabetes cancer and cardiovascular diseases Despite the recognition that physicians are often called upon to provide counseling in nutritional aspects of diseases nutrition does not hold the place it deserves in medical schools curricula especially in clinical and casebased teaching Objectve: The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge attitude and practice of interns in Kerman Medical University regarding the nutrition Methods: Selfadministered questionnaires including 29 questions and in a crosssectional study were completed by 105 interns Results: The mean knowledge attitude and practice scores were 693 ± 189 (out of 14) 1550 ± 354 (out of 40) and 148 ± 158 (out of 7) respectively There were no significant differences in knowledge and practice scores between males and females but male interns had higher score in attitude (P
