Eun Bae Yang

A Study on the Characteristics of Excellent Lecturers in Medical School

PURPOSE This study analyzed the characteristics of excellent lecturers, as perceived by medical students, and identified the teaching competency that lecturers should possess to enhance the quality of medical education in medical school. METHODS To examine the characteristics of excellent lecturers and teaching competency, we administered open-ended questionnaires to a sample of 128 Year 2 medical students in May 2011. RESULTS The students placed high value on the ability to organize and summarize the lecture as the most significant competence of lecturers, due to the massive amounts of information that is disseminated in medical college. Further, they chose lecturers who communicated to students actively and used real clinical cases properly with regard to how medical knowledge applied. They also considered generating an interest in learning by linking knowledge and its application as an important priority of excellent lecturers. CONCLUSION We conclude that there are differences in the characteristics and competencies of excellent lecturers, as perceived by medical students and others. To increase the quality of teaching, it might be necessary to offer the opportunity to observe excellent lecturers, develop faculty development programs, and create educational culture.

The Present Conditions of Clinical Clerkship Management in Korea

PURPOSE This study investigated the present conditions of clinical clerkship management in Korea to make recommendations for it. METHODS The data were collected between April 15 and May 30 in 2009 using questionnaires that were sent to the clerkship directors of 41 colleges of medicine and medical graduate schools. RESULTS The elective course system was established in 78% of the institutions; the 6 core specialties were found in all medical schools. The duration of clerkship was longest in internal medicine, followed by surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, and emergency medicine. There were differences between the planning and monitoring agencies. Preclinical courses existed in 92.7% of the institutions. However, much more remains to be done ie, with regard to the issues of student assessment in clinical clerkship, faculty development programs for the faculty and residents, incentive systems for educational involvement, provisions for yearly systematic clerkships, integration of basic-clinical science-medical humanities, and community-based education. CONCLUSION Because clinical clerkship education is very important as a core curriculum, curriculum planning and its management must be given adequate attention. The following measures are suggested: elective systems that allow students to choose by career planning; concerns over faculty development programs for residents as a teacher; consensus on the concept, objectives, duration, content, evaluation tools of pre-clinical clerkship and clinical clerkship, and student well-being; and emphasis on community-based education.

Perceptions on item disclosure for the Korean medical licensing examination

PURPOSE This study analyzed the perceptions of medical students and faculty regarding disclosure of test items on the Korean medical licensing examination. METHODS I conducted a survey of medical students from medical colleges and professional medical schools nationwide. Responses were analyzed from 718 participants as well as 69 faculty members who participated in creating the medical licensing examination item sets. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the chi-square test. RESULTS It is important to maintain test quality and to keep the test items unavailable to the public. There are also concerns among students that disclosure of test items would prompt increasing difficulty of test items (48.3%). Further, few students found it desirable to disclose test items regardless of any considerations (28.5%). The professors, who had experience in designing the test items, also expressed their opposition to test item disclosure (60.9%). CONCLUSION It is desirable not to disclose the test items of the Korean medical licensing examination to the public on the condition that students are provided with a sufficient amount of information regarding the examination. This is so that the exam can appropriately identify candidates with the required qualifications.

Three controversies over item disclosure in medical licensure examinations

In response to views on publics right to know, there is growing attention to item disclosure – release of items, answer keys, and performance data to the public – in medical licensure examinations and their potential impact on the tests ability to measure competence and select qualified candidates. Recent debates on this issue have sparked legislative action internationally, including South Korea, with prior discussions among North American countries dating over three decades. The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze three issues associated with item disclosure in medical licensure examinations – 1) fairness and validity, 2) impact on passing levels, and 3) utility of item disclosure – by synthesizing existing literature in relation to standards in testing. Historically, the controversy over item disclosure has centered on fairness and validity. Proponents of item disclosure stress test takers’ right to know, while opponents argue from a validity perspective. Item disclosure may bias item characteristics, such as difficulty and discrimination, and has consequences on setting passing levels. To date, there has been limited research on the utility of item disclosure for large scale testing. These issues requires ongoing and careful consideration.

Seven Strategies for Effective Questioning

Korean J Med Educ 2012 Sep; 24(3): 259-262. http://dx.doi.org/10.3946/kjme.2012.24.3.259 pISSN: 2005-727X eISSN: 2005-7288 C The Korean Society of Medical Education. All rights reserved. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 우리는 때때로 강의를 한다. 강의를 한다는 것은 해당 분야의 전문성을 인정받았다는 점에서 약간의 부담이 있기는 하지만 좋은 일이다. 그래서 연구업적이 많은 교수나 해당 분야에 경 험이 많은 사람이 강의를 요청 받는다. 그들은 자신이 전공하 는 분야에 남다른 식견과 전문성을 갖고 있다. 그러나 강의를 요청받고 교육을 해야 하는 입장이 되면서 상황은 완전히 바뀐 다. 이제 그들은 무엇을 가르쳐야 하고, 어떻게 가르쳐야 하며, 어떻게 평가해야 하는지에 대한 전문적 지식과 기술을 갖고 있어야 한다. 뿐만 아니라 학생 또는 청중들에게 가르치는 사 람으로서의 역할 모델도 되어야 한다. 강의를 배정받고, 학생 들을 대상으로 가르치는 모습을 상상해 보라. 당신은 무엇을 가르치고 있는가? 어떻게 가르치고 있는가? 당신의 강의가 성 공적이라고 확신할 수 있는가? 의과대학 교수들은 잘 가르치 는 방법에 대해 체계적으로 교육받은 적이 없다고 말하면서 어떻게 해야 하는지 질문한다. 결론부터 말하면 정답은 없다. 그것은 강의의 목적, 강의 내용, 대상 및 환경에 따라 달라진다. 그러나 어떤 경우이든지 가르치고 배운다는 것의 진정한 의미 를 이해하고, 교수자와 학습자의 상호작용을 통해서 유의미한 학습을 유도하는 것은 교육의 핵심적인 속성으로 거론된다.

Developing the Korean Association of Medical Colleges graduate outcomes of basic medical education based on “the role of Korean doctor, 2014”

The Korean Association of Medical Colleges (KAMC) developed graduate outcomes based on “The role of Korean doctor, 2014” to serve as guidelines regarding outcome-based education in Korea. The working group in this study analyzed 65 competencies proposed in “The role of Korean doctor, 2014” according to the developmental principle that certain outcomes should be demonstrated at the point of entry into the graduate medical education. We established 34 competencies as “preliminary graduate outcomes” (PGOs). The advisory committee consisted of 11 professors, who reviewed the validity of PGOs. Ultimately, a total of 19 “revised graduate outcomes” (RGOs) were selected. We modified the RGOs based on opinions from medical schools and a public hearing. In November 2017, the KAMC announced the “graduate outcomes for basic medical education,” which serves as a guide for basic medical education for the 40 medical schools throughout Korea. Medical schools can expand the graduate outcomes according to their educational goals and modify them according to their own context. We believe that graduate outcomes can be a starting point for connecting basic medical education to graduate medical education.

Comparison of competency level of medical, non-medical students and its relevance for admission policy

Purpose This study aims to analyze the competency of medical students and its relevance for admission policy in medical schools. Methods This study examined the competency of 63 medical students from the 6-year program (group A) and 41 medical students from the 4-year program (group B) at Yonsei University using the Korea Collegiate Essential Skills Assessment (KCESA). The competency of groups A and B were compared to the corresponding competency levels of non-medical students (groups C and D). Group C is freshmen and D is senior students in universities. The KCESA is computer-based ability test composed of 228 items. The competency of participants were calculated on a T-scores (mean=50, standard deviation=10) based on KCESA norm-references. We conducted independent t-test for group comparisons of competency levels. Results There are no differences in competency levels between groups A and B. Compared with the non-medical students (group B), the medical students showed a significantly stronger ability to use resources, information-technology and higher-order thinking. In the comparison between groups B and D, medical students showed lower levels of self-management, interpersonal, and cooperative skills. Conclusion The cognitive ability serves as an important indicator for the decision on admission to a basic medical education program. The efforts should be made to foster the competency that medical students have been found to lack, such as self-management, interpersonal, and cooperative skills. The admission committee should assess the cognitive and non-cognitive competency of applicants in a balanced manner.

Estimation of Optimal Educational Cost per Medical Student

PURPOSE This study aims to estimate the optimal educational cost per medical student. METHODS A private medical college in Seoul was targeted by the study, and its 2006 learning environment and data from the 2003~2006 budget and settlement were carefully analyzed. Through interviews with 3 medical professors and 2 experts in the economics of education, the study attempted to establish the educational cost estimation model, which yields an empirically computed estimate of the optimal cost per student in medical college. RESULTS The estimation model was based primarily upon the educational cost which consisted of direct educational costs (47.25%), support costs (36.44%), fixed asset purchases (11.18%) and costs for student affairs (5.14%). These results indicate that the optimal cost per student is approximately 20,367,000 won each semester; thus, training a doctor costs 162,936,000 won over 4 years. Consequently, we inferred that the tuition levels of a local medical college or professional medical graduate school cover one quarter or one-half of the per- student cost. CONCLUSION The findings of this study do not necessarily imply an increase in medical college tuition; the estimation of the per-student cost for training to be a doctor is one matter, and the issue of who should bear this burden is another. For further study, we should consider the college type and its location for general application of the estimation method, in addition to living expenses and opportunity costs.

The Exploratory Study for Medical Aptitude Constructs

Purpose: The aim of this study is to explore the individual traits needed for the successful performance of a doctors duties as well as to establish primary criteria for the Medical Education Eligibility Test. Methods: This study conducted qualitatively by interviewing 43 persons: medical school professors, residents, and medical reporters. The analysis of data were applied a content analysis. Results: 1) The important intelligent abilities revealed were problem solving, verbal expression, and memory. 2) The personality traits included sincerity, sociability, respectability, gentleness, and reflective thinking. 3) The biology, chemistry, and physics were important in the natural science background knowledge, and 4) linguistics, philosophy, and social science were important in human and social science background knowledge. Conclusion: The medical aptitude could be constructed intelligent ability, personality trits, and background knowledges, and include specific aspects depended on Korean context.

The Development Tasks of Medical School Accreditation in Korea

The Accreditation Board for Medical Education in Korea. ABMEK, is nongovernmental appraisal organization that was established at July, 2, 1998. The organization is contributing to the improvement of medical education by progressing the first cycle accreditation successfully. But, the organization has various problems and subjects related to the accreditation system. The authors examined the related literature focusing on the current status and problems of accreditation system. The result of this research was s follows. First, the ABMEK needs to propel legal personality of organization and should install independent executive office. Second, the ABMEK should establish the alteration procedure of accreditation standards and develop the accreditation standards of the second cycle that take into account international flowing of medical education. Third, the ABMEK must decide forms and scope to investigate medical college present situation. Finally, to propel development tasks effectively, it needs to get the recognition of Ministry of Education and Human Development.