Denisse Zúñiga

¿Están preparados los residentes e internos para enseñar?: Percepción de estudiantes de medicina de pre y postgrado

BACKGROUND Every doctor is expected to be competent in teaching. There are few initiatives to prepare medical students for this role. AIM To explore residents (graduate students) and interns (final year undergraduate students) perceptions of the importance of acquiring teaching skills and how prepared they feel to meet this role. To determine the importance that undergraduate students give to such teaching. MATERIAL AND METHODS Residents and interns participated in focus groups, and completed the Medical Education Readiness Questionnaire (METRQ), 5th year medical students were also invited to complete it. RESULTS Three hundred and seventy seven subjects answered the questionnaire. The perceived importance of having teaching skills was 6.1 +/-1.2 among residents and 5.7 +/- 1.6 among interns, in a scale 1 to 7. Their perception of their own preparation for teaching was 4.3 +/- 1.6 for both groups in the same scale. Students evaluated the preparation of the residents for teaching as 5.2 +/- 1.6 and that of the interns as 4.4 +/-1.7. Seventy-eight percent of 5th year medical students reported to learn more than two. 5 hours a week from residents. Fifty-nine percent of residents and 66% of interns reported to teach up to 2.5 hours per week to the same students. Focus groups participants agreed that teaching is an important role for a physician, and that to do it properly requires personal characteristics, along with teaching skills. They also found that the best opportunities to learn how to teach are during practical training. CONCLUSIONS. Our study contributes to the recognition of the teaching role of physicians and the need for teaching training among medical students.Background: Every doctor is expected to be competent in teaching. There are few initiatives to prepare medical students for this role. Aim: To explore residents (graduate students) and interns (final year undergraduate students) perceptions of the importance of acquiring teaching skills and how prepared they feel to meet this role. To determine the importance that undergraduate students give to such teaching. Material and Methods: Residents and interns participated in focus groups, and completed the Medical Education Readiness Questionnaire (METRQ), 5th year medical students were also invited to complete it. Results: Three hundred and seventy seven subjects answered the questionnaire. The perceived importance of having teaching skills was 6.1 ±1.2 among residents and 5.7 ± 1.6 among interns, in a scale 1 to 7. Their perception of their own preparation for teaching was 4.3 ± 1.6 for both groups in the same scale. Students evaluated the preparation of the residents for teaching as 5.2 ± 1.6 and that of the interns as 4.4 ±1.7. Seventy-eight percent of 5th year medical students reported to learn more than two. 5 hours a week from residents. Fifty-nine percent of residents and 66 percent of interns reported to teach up to 2.5 hours per week to the same students. Focus groups participants agreed that teaching is an important role for a physician, and that to do it properly requires personal characteristics, along with teaching skills. They also found that the best opportunities to learn how to teach are during practical training. Conclusions. Our study contributes to the recognition of the teaching role of physicians and the need for teaching training among medical students.

Narrativa y formación docente: la experiencia de 5 años de un taller de escritura

BACKGROUND Narrative medicine has showed to be a powerful instrument to reinforce relationships, identity, and self-knowledge among health professionals. Subjective issues have been recently recognized as relevant for faculty development in addition to the technical aspects. Since 2006 a creative writing workshop has been included as part of the Diploma in Medical Education at the medical school of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. AIM To describe the experience and results of the creative writing workshop (2006-2010). MATERIAL AND METHODS Descriptive and retrospective study with a qualitative and quantitative design. Thirty-six teachers of the School of Medicine attended a 12-hour workshop. The Kirkpatrick model for evaluation of educational outcomes was used to report the data obtained in the course evaluation survey and in the stories produced. RESULTS There were positive results at the four levels of Kirkpatrick evaluation model. The learning objectives of the workshop were achieved and 83 stories were created, compiled and published. CONCLUSIONS The creative writing workshop can provide faculty with protected time for reflective practice about academic experiences and produce educational outcomes at different levels of the Kirkpatrick model.Background: Narrative medicine has showed to be a powerful instrument to reinforce relationships, identity, and self-knowledge among health professionals. Subjective issues have been recently recognized as relevant for faculty development in addition to the technical aspects. Since 2006 a creative writing workshop has been included as part of the Diploma in Medical Education at the medical school of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. Aim: To describe the experience and results of the creative writing workshop (2006-2010). Material and Methods: Descriptive and retrospective study with a qualitative and quantitative design. Thirty-six teachers of the School of Medicine attended a 12-hour workshop. The Kirkpatrick model for evaluation of educational outcomes was used to report the data obtained in the course evaluation survey and in the stories produced. Results: There were positive results at the four levels of Kirkpatrick evaluation model. The learning objectives of the workshop were achieved and 83 stories were created, compiled and published. Conclusions: The creative writing workshop can provide faculty with protected time for reflective practice about academic experiences and produce educational outcomes at different levels of the Kirkpatrick model.

Mejoría en las habilidades de comunicación escrita de estudiantes de medicina: Impacto de un taller de escritura

Antecedentes. Los jovenes que ingresan a la carrera de medicina se encuentran entre los estudiantes mas destacados de nuestro pais; sin embargo, muchos de ellos tienen dificultades para comunicarse por escrito. Para favorecer el desarrollo de las habilidades de comunicacion escrita, la escuela de medicina de la Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile introdujo en 2005 un taller de escritura en la malla curricular de tercer ano. Objetivos. Describir el taller de escritura y su impacto sobre las habilidades de comunicacion escrita de 3 cohortes de estudiantes. Metodos. El taller funciono con una metodologia participativa que privilegio la practica de la escritura y el ‘feedback’. Los estudiantes trabajaron en grupos pequenos con docentes de la escuela especialmente capacitados en redaccion. Para evaluar el impacto del taller, se comparo la calidad de los ensayos escritos por los estudiantes antes y despues del taller. La correccion estuvo a cargo de un equipo profesional que evaluo aspectos formales de redaccion y procesamiento de las ideas mediante una rubrica analitica. Resultados. La calidad de la escritura mejoro significativamente luego del taller, particularmente en argumentacion, estructura textual y estructura de parrafo. Esta mejoria fue inversamente proporcional al nivel inicial de desempeno del estudiante, e independiente del genero. Conclusiones. Es posible corregir falencias de redaccion escrita de estudiantes universitarios de alto nivel academico, con un taller basado en la practica deliberada y el ‘feedback’ oportuno. Por su diseno, pensamos que el taller aqui descrito podria ser de utilidad para estudiantes de otras escuelas y universidades.

Evaluación de aproximaciones al aprendizaje clínico a través del CEACLIN: Resultados en estudiantes de medicina en una universidad chilena

BACKGROUND Throughout medical education, students are gradually incorporated into authentic clinical practice scenarios. AIM To describe the use of clinical learning strategies by Chilean students and compare them according to sex and year of training. MATERIAL AND METHODS The Clinical Learning Strategies Questionnaire (CEACLIN) was applied to 336 students from the 4th to 6th year of medicine at a Chilean university. RESULTS The most frequently reported strategies were related to the search for autonomy, reliable environments for learning, observation of others and attention to emotions. The less frequent was the handling of academic burden. Gender accounted for significant differences in eight of the 11 strategies identified by CEACLIN, while years of training accounted for five of the 11. The cluster analysis identified two groups: the first group comprised nine CEACLIN strategies, with a slightly higher proportion of women and 5th and 6th year students. The second group consisted mainly of men in the 4th year. CONCLUSIONS Reported strategies include a set of actions oriented to the development of autonomy and confidence through the search for valid information and learning from and with others. These findings are associated with sex and year of training.

Estrategias del aprendizaje inicial de la clínica: más allá de los hábitos de estudio. Percepciones de estudiantes y docentes clínicos

Background: Teaching methods of the undergraduate medical curriculum change considerably from the first years to clinical training. Clinical learning occurs in complex and varied scenarios while caring for patients. Students have to adapt their learning approaches and strategies to be able to integrate theory and clinical practice and become experiential learners. Aim: To identify the strategies used by medical students to learn during the initial clinical years, as reported by students themselves and by their clinical tutors. Material and methods: We performed eight focus group discussions with 54 students enrolled in years three to six and we interviewed eight clinical tutors. Both focus group discussions and interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analyzed according to Grounded Theory. Results: Four main themes were identified in the discourse of both students and tutors: Strategies oriented to theoretical learning, strategies oriented to experiential learning, strategies for integrating theory and practice and strategies oriented to evaluation. The mentioning of individual differences was present across the reports of both students and tutors. Conclusions: Students use a rich variety of strategies to face the challenges of clinical learning. Both students and tutors recognize that the learning approaches and strategies vary according the nature of the task and individual differences. The responses of students bring particular knowledge of the approaches used for the theoretical and practical integration and delve into the social dimension of learning.BACKGROUND Teaching methods of the undergraduate medical curriculum change considerably from the first years to clinical training. Clinical learning occurs in complex and varied scenarios while caring for patients. Students have to adapt their learning approaches and strategies to be able to integrate theory and clinical practice and become experiential learners. AIM To identify the strategies used by medical students to learn during the initial clinical years, as reported by students themselves and by their clinical tutors. MATERIAL AND METHODS We performed eight focus group discussions with 54 students enrolled in years three to six and we interviewed eight clinical tutors. Both focus group discussions and interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analyzed according to Grounded Theory. RESULTS Four main themes were identified in the discourse of both students and tutors: Strategies oriented to theoretical learning, strategies oriented to experiential learning, strategies for integrating theory and practice and strategies oriented to evaluation. The mentioning of individual differences was present across the reports of both students and tutors. CONCLUSIONS Students use a rich variety of strategies to face the challenges of clinical learning. Both students and tutors recognize that the learning approaches and strategies vary according the nature of the task and individual differences. The responses of students bring particular knowledge of the approaches used for the theoretical and practical integration and delve into the social dimension of learning.

Reading Strategies used by Undergraduate Medical Students to Comprehend Scientific Publications

This study identifies strategies used by non-English speaking medical students to comprehend scientific biomedical publications. It also describes the relationship among self-reported proficiency (both in English and in topic matter), perceived difficulty of the publication, reading time and subjective perceptions of learning and satisfaction.