Journal of Medical Education
Volume:17 Issue: 2, May 2018

Medical students have the ability to play an important role in institutional response to a mass casualty incident (MCI). However, while previous studies have shown a strong desire among students to take part in MCI response, a lack of training has left them unprepared to confidently respond to such an event. Currently, simpler models are needed to increase the prevalence of MCI response training in medical school curricula. Our goal was to develop a sustainable curriculum to prepare medical students to respond in MCIs by combining didactic instruction and interactive simulationbased training. In 2017, a group of first-through-fourth year medical students designed and carried out a one-day MCI curriculum involving a one-hour didactic lecture on emergency management and triage as well as one hour of scenario-based exercises involving two mock mass casualty incidents. In order to analyze the impact of this event, students were asked to fill out pre- and post-training surveys. Out of 45 participating medical students from all levels of training, 37 filled out the pre- and post-event surveys. Prior to the event, 17% (n=35) of the attendees reported that they were aware of
the University of Michigan’s Mass Casualty Incident Protocol (MCIP), and 51% (n=35) reported they would be ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to respond to an MCI. After the event, 74% (n=35) of the students reported awareness of the MCIP, while 74% (n=35) also stated they would be likely or very likely to respond to an MCI. Of these participants, 85% (n=34) ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that the simulation environment was conducive to learning, and 91% (n=35) similarly agreed or strongly agreed that the
simulations improved understanding of the MCIP and triage principles presented during the lectureportion of the training. Combined didactic- and scenario-based training is a simple tool to promote medical student preparedness for an MCI. In order to train a group of self-selected medical students to be involved in MCI response, future efforts to refine this training model should focus on the promotion of interprofessional involvement.
Keywords: MASS CASUALTY INCIDENT RESPONSE, MEDICAL STUDENT, TRIAGE, TRAINING, SIMULATION,
CURRICULUM

Job satisfaction has been defined as a pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job. It can be influenced by many factors such as nature of the work, salary, job
opportunities, work environment, supervision, mental conditions, and job security. We aimed to compare satisfaction among academic members of dentistry faculty based on their specialty. 98 Faculty members of Shahid Beheshti dentistry school (n=114) were surveyed during 2016 to assess their job satisfaction level. We used two questionnaires, the first one assessed demographic and personal data (academic position, teaching experience) and the other questionnaire was for evaluating job satisfaction. The level of satisfaction of our samples was moderate and the average score was 2.77±0.5. The nature of work that is maintaining an academic position plays the most important role in job satisfaction. Mental conditions and job security ranked moderate satisfaction. The opportunities for promotion and personal growth were ranked the most dissatisfied domains. There was. significant difference among academic members’ level of satisfaction, about salary (P≤0.02), nature of the work (P≤0.007) and physical condition (P≤0.001). In general, prosthodontists were the least and the dental material specialists were the most satisfied dental specialists among faculty members. To increase job satisfaction of faculty members
and their maintenance in academic position we suggest considering resource allocation and strategies in a direction that provide equal opportunities for promotion and members flourish.
Keywords: JOB SATISFACTION, DENTAL FACULTY

academic performance as the basis for judging students’ knowledge ans skills in a specific period is based on the education development program. We aimed to predict the performance of medical students based on the Martin Ford motivational systems theory. This study was a cross-sectional study on 170 medical students in science education, training and internship at Iran University of Medical Science, who were selected through random sampling.
Motivational Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) was completed by all participants.
Grade point average (GPA) was selected as academic performance. Pearson’s correlation and stepwise regression were used for data analysis. There was a moderate relationship between responsive environment and academic performance (R=0.43, P<0.001), determined 19 percent (R2=0.191, P<0.001). Considering the regression coefficient
of the predictor variable, the weight of responsive environment (B=0.662) indicates that the variable could predict the changes related to the students’ academic performance. So, the weight of responsive
environment would be in a more conservative state in generalizing the sample group to the statistical population. For predicting academic performance, responsive environment should be considered as hidden curriculum and educational planner should pay more attention to it.
Keywords: PREDICTION, ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, MARTIN FORD MOTIVATIONAL SYSTEMS THEORY

Medical students are a country’s future physician reservoirs. Knowing how they choose their specialties is the key in enforcing a balance in distributing physicians in different medical
specialties. The purpose of this study was to determine Shiraz University of Medical Sciences students’ choices of specialty in respective order and to investigate the factors influencing these choices to determine if further education on medical specialties is needed. Convenience sampling was conducted for this cross-sectional and descriptive-analytic study among 250 of fifth, sixth and seventh-year medical students who were in clinical settings. A questionnaire with confirmed validity and reliability was used. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS software. The students’ mean age was 23.7±1.54 years; 45.6% were men and 54.4% were women.
35.2% of them were fifth-year students, 33.6% were externs and 31.2% were interns. Overall students’ favorite specialties were Dermatology (20.4%), Ophthalmology (14.4%) and Orthopedics and Cardiology (10%), respectively. Female students’ choices were Dermatology, Ophthalmology and Cardiology, while male students chose Orthopedics, Ophthalmology and Dermatology. Fifth-year students’ favorite specialties were Internal medicine, Dermatology and General Surgery, while externs and interns chose Dermatology and Ophthalmology. Education level, sex, age, and students’ military status were significantly associated with their specialty choice. “Personal factors” (2.79±0.87) and
“economic factors” (2.78±0.99) were deemed the most important factors in choosing their specialties. Based on this study, some specialties, though vital for society, were not favored by medical students which shows the need for further education on these specialties. Respective authorities could use these influencing factors to try to make these specialties more favorable, hence students would be more willing to choose them.
Keywords: STUDENTS, MEDICAL, CHOICE BEHAVIOR, MEDICINE, ATTITUDE, SPECIALTY Keywords

Facebook and other social media are attractive to those in the field of medical education. It can affect human being as some researches show that it has positive effect while others revealed the
opposite. This study aimed to describe the pattern of Facebook use among the dental students at king Abdulaziz University and to assess its effect on behavior, social interactions, academic performance and study as well as health status. This is a cross sectional study targeted the undergraduate dental students in the academic year 2016-2017. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed online to all target students. It included 4 sections asked about the pattern of Facebook use and its purpose, the effect of Facebook use on behavior, study, academic performance and health of the target students. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16. Whatsapp (82%) and Facebook (62%) were the most common types of social media used by the students and about 50% of them used Facebook for only 30 minutes per day. Considerable number of the students were using Facebook for educational purposes (66%) and felt that it made the social life better and believed it affected the time they spend with their friends and family (38%). They perceived Facebook as a source of inspiration and motivation (40%) about one third of them felt lonely despite of their many Facebook friends. Feeling less active (58%), having affected eyesight (33%) and headache (45 %) was reported after using Facebook by the students. About 31 % of them decided that Facebook had a negative effect on their study and 33.6 % of them believed that Facebook affected their grade point average (GPA). Although having some positive impact, use of Facebook has also negative impact on the students social interactions, behavior, health, study and academic performance as perceived by the dental students.
Keywords: FACEBOOK, SOCIAL MEDIA, DENTISTRY, HEALTH BEHAVIOUR, GPA

The main task of the tutor in problem-based learning (PBL) is to facilitate group discussion through increasing their skills and monitoring their progress. Several studies had investigated PBL
aspects, but few have explored the tutors knowledge and attitude towards the program. All tutors (n=22) involved in the newly adapted ‘Integrated Learning curriculum’ in Kerbala Medical college during the academic year 2014-2015 voluntarily answered a questionnaire published in ‘ABC of PBL in medicine’ periodical covering tutors, students and session characteristics. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test was used for analysis. P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Most tutors viewed PBL positively in the main tested disciplines (tutors, students, and session characteristics). The highest positive rate was found for students’ preparation and keeping continuous PBL discussion, followed by well-structured sessions, while the least positive answers was for session progress. For means comparison, the lowest mean was related to two questions concerning students’ characteristics. In spite of a greatly high positive attitude, few shortcomings were pointed out. These included session progress, speaking more than the tutor likes and speaking to one or two students instead of speaking to the whole group. In general, most participants (>90%) answered the study questionnaire positively which indicates a great satisfaction and positive evaluation; however, the main mentioned shortcoming was related to insufficient training and short experience with PBL.
Keywords: PROBLEM BASED LEARNING, TUTORS, INTEGRATED CURRICULUM, MEDICAL STUDENTS, LEARNING

Choosing medical specialties by physicians is important in workforce planning of health care services; yet there is not enough theoretic understanding about how medical specialties are chosen. So the key concepts of nine theories have been the basis of the present study. In this study the Critical Review methodology, Carnwell and Daly structures and the three steps proposed by Schutz were used. While we criticize the work of each theorist with a casual sequence of effective factors on the chosen career in each theory, we have tried to design a comprehensive Meta model for specialty choice
by investigating and synthesizing available theories. This model has remarkable advantages to other presented models and related context to explain factors affecting career choice. Since it includes all elements concerning career choice, it can be used as the basic tool to identify professional interests, help choose a career effectively and provide critical information for policy- makers for the effective management of physician workforce in different specialties and different regions in the country