Joy Rudland

Characteristics of doctors and nurses as perceived by students entering medical school: implications for shared teaching.

Introduction  Debate continues with respect to when to introduce interprofessional education for maximal potential benefit. One perspective is that interprofessional education should be introduced early in the undergraduate curriculum before students develop stereotyped impressions of other professional groups. However, it may be that students at entry to medical school have already developed these stereotypical impressions. This study examines perceived professional characteristics of doctors and nurses by students entering medical school.

Comparison of UMAT scores and GPA in prediction of performance in medical school: a national study

Medical Education 2012: 46 : 163–171

The determination of the relevance of basic sciences learning objectives to clinical practice using a questionnaire survey

Objectives  Facilitating sufficient understanding of the basic sciences to underpin clinical practice is important in producing the good doctor. However, the inclusion of irrelevant material in the curriculum not only wastes valuable learning time, but may also hinder learning. The aim of this study was to determine how relevant staff and students thought respiratory basic science learning objectives were to medical practice.

“You can do it late at night or in the morning. You can do it at home, I did it with my flatmate.” The educational impact of an OSCE

Background: The use of an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) has been a powerful influence on doctor training but assessments do not always drive study behaviour in predictable ways. Aims: To investigate the impact an OSCE has on study behaviours by exploring how 5th year medical students identify what to learn for a summative OSCE and the role of the clinical environment in their preparation. Methods: A semi-structured questionnaire survey asked about strategies used by students to prepare for the OSCE. Focus group interviews explored successful methods of preparation for the OSCE. Themes were identified and classified. Results: The questionnaire response rate was 84%. Topic identification was usually from the list of examinable problems, past OSCE papers and a booklet prepared by a previous student containing a series of OSCE checklists. The study behaviours of students preparing for the OSCE exam were predominantly to practise on each other, and to rehearse routines. Strategic and efficient study habits were favoured over conscious utilization of the clinical environment. Conclusion: The expectation that an OSCE drives learning into the clinical workplace was not supported by this study. This suggests the role of clinical experience in helping students prepare for the exam may be more subliminal, or that an OSCE is more as a test of psychomotor skills than a marker of clinical experience. An unexpected benefit may be to drive more collaborative learning.

A student-centred feedback model for educators.

Background:  Effective feedback is instrumental to effective learning. Current feedback models tend to be educator driven rather than learner‐centred, with the focus on how the supervisor should give feedback rather than on the role of the learner in requesting and responding to feedback.

Comparison of opinions and profiles of late or non-responding medical students with initial responders to a course evaluation questionnaire

This study examined whether students requiring prompting to evaluate an educational module differed from initial responders in their rating of the experience and their profile (academic ability, age and gender). At the end of a 4th year induction Module, medical students completed an evaluation questionnaire. Those who did not respond were followed-up. Fifty-nine percent responded immediately, 34% after first or second prompts (late responders) and 7% were non-responders. Late responders rated the module significantly lower than initial responders. Late and non-responders were academically weaker than initial responders, but were similar in age and gender. Academically weaker students in the non- or late responders groups, may be less willing to reflect on their experience, and may require new strategies to encourage a response.

Moving a formative test from a paper-based to a computer-based format. A student viewpoint

Background: A paper-based test was changed to a computer-based format. Students completed the test over a 2-week period on any computer with internet access. Aim: To determine the acceptability to students of the computer-based format, whether resources were used by students during the test, the value of receiving an immediate score, positive aspects of the computer format and areas for improvement. Methods: Students completed an online survey containing closed questions (Likert scale) and free text questions. Results: A large majority of respondents had easy access to a computer, found it easy to complete the test in the time given and did not use resources to answer the test questions. The most cited benefits were flexibility and convenience in being able to choose both the location and time for taking the test. A smaller majority found it useful to get immediate feedback. The possibility of students ‘cheating’ because of the ability to use resources during the test was seen as problematic. Some students felt that the test appeared to lack importance because of the flexibility permitted. Conclusions: From a student perspective, the computer was an acceptable platform for delivering a formative assessment comprising multiple choice questions (MCQs).

Medical faculty opinions of peer tutoring.

Context and objectives: Peer tutoring is a well-researched and established method of learning defined as ′a medical student facilitating the learning of another medical student′. While it has been adopted in many medical schools, other schools may be reluctant to embrace this approach. The attitude of the teaching staff, responsible for organizing and or teaching students in an undergraduate medical course to formal peer teaching will affect how it is introduced and operationalized. This study elicits faculty opinions on how best to introduce peer tutoring for medical students. Methods: Structured telephone interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. The interviews were with medically qualified staff responsible for organizing or teaching undergraduate medical students at a New Zealand medical school. Six questions were posed regarding perceived advantages and disadvantages of peer tutoring and how the school and staff could support a peer-tutoring scheme if one was introduced. Findings: Staff generally supported the peer tutoring concept, offering a safe environment for learning with its teachers being so close in career stage to the learners. They also say disadvantages when the student-teachers imparted wrong information and when schools used peer tutoring to justify a reduction in teaching staff. Subjects felt that faculty would be more accepting of peer tutoring if efforts were made to build staff ′buy in′ and empowerment, train peer tutors and introduce a solid evaluation process. Conclusions: Staff of our school expressed some concerns about peer tutoring that are not supported in the literature, signaling a need for better communication about the benefits and disadvantages of peer tutoring.

The clinical skills experience of rural immersion medical students and traditional hospital placement students: A student perspective

Background: Recent decades have seen an international trend for the development of undergraduate medical programmes in rural locations. These have been considered educationally equivalent alternatives to traditional hospital-based programmes. A pilot Rural Medical Immersion Programme (RMIP) was launched at the University of Otago. Aims: To examine the clinical skills experience of RMIP students and to compare it to that of fifth-year students based in the traditional, often urban and hospital-based, rotations. Methods: An online questionnaire was completed by 23 medical students: six RMIP students and 17 hospital-based students. Students rated their level of experience in a variety of skills and their self-perceived competence for performing these skills after their fifth year. Total experience and confidence was compared using Mann–Whitney U test, as were subsets of skills. Results: There was no difference found in the total clinical skills experience and confidence between RMIP and traditional students. RMIP students reported greater experience of patient examination and patient education skills; traditional students reported greater experience and confidence in investigation and interpretative skills. Conclusion: Clinical skills experience of the RMIP students is at least equivalent to that of their peers in the tertiary hospital setting. However, attention may be needed in the development of ‘investigative and interpretative skills’ for rural immersion students.

Rad-Path: integrated anatomical pathology and radiology undergraduate tutorials

Aims: The anatomical pathology tutorials for the fourth year of our undergraduate medical course at the University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand, were re‐developed with the aim of promoting more active participation and application of learning by the students in their small group work. Radiology was integrated into half of the pathology tutorials with the objective of enhancing learning of both disciplines. The tutorials were designed to be easy to run for the tutors, who are mostly hospital‐based staff. Methods: A set of 24 tutor‐directed undergraduate anatomical pathology tutorials was re‐developed into a case‐based, student‐centred format. Radiology learning was integrated into 12 tutorials. Student assessment was by way of three short answer examinations spaced throughout the course. Students and tutors completed evaluations of the tutorials. Results: Student evaluations were positive, indicating the tutorials were considered valuable, relevant and a stimulus for thinking. Students and tutors endorsed the benefits of integrated pathology and radiology learning. Assessment results have demonstrated effective learning of pathology and radiology in the tutorials. The tutors found that the tutorials stimulated student engagement and were easy to run. Conclusions: The re‐developed anatomical pathology tutorials with the integration of radiology appear to offer a number of benefits for learning of pathology and radiology.