Research and Development in Medical Education
Volume:7 Issue: 1, 2018

The objective of this paper is to describe the various types of plastination techniques and their application in medical education.
Articles were searched from internet databases using search terms such as medical education, plastination, plastination techniques, embalming, cryopreservation, etc. Articles that met the selection criteria were selected for the review.
The search result showed that Plastination is a technique that uses curable polymersto replace body fluids in order to prevent decay and deterioration. The plastination technique was invented by Gunther von Hagens in 1977. The plastination technique is divided into four types based on the type of polymer used for impregnation: silicon impregnated specimens,specimens produced with polymerizing emulsions, transparent body or organ slices, and opaque brain slices. The technique consists of four steps: fixation, dehydration or defatting,forced impregnation in a vacuum, and curing or hardening.
Plastinates, products of plastination, are used for teaching and research purposes.Because of their flexibility, resilience and transparent nature as well as the ability to carry them to class rooms, they can be used to replace formalin-preserved specimens in medical education.

Evidence-based nursing (EBN) is an approach to make effective clinical decisions based upon personal clinical expertise and patient preferences and values in combination with the most current and relevant research and evidence available on the topic. This approach uses the evidence-based practice (EBP) as a foundation. In spite of extensive training in EBN for nursing students in Iran, appropriate articles have not been summarized suitably as to EBN’s effectiveness. The present study aimed to systematically review the effectiveness of EBN education on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of nursing students in Iran.
For a systematic review on the topic, different searching methods were applied by searching on the following key words: training, learning, evidence-based nursing, nursing education in B.A. course, nursing students, workshop, knowledge, attitudes, skills, Iran. Their English equivalents were included. Databases that were searched included SID, Magiran, Medlib, Iranmedex, PubMed, Google Scholar, and CINAHL. We included studies that had recruited undergraduate nursing students, articles that had the key words in the titles, all studies conducted in Persian and English up to 2016, and the studies which used at least one educational intervention for evidence-based teaching.
Based on the results of automated and manual database searches of over 313 papers,143 articles were eliminated by studying their titles based on not reporting teaching EBM to undergraduate nursing students, and 160 articles were removed based on content. In all, eight articles were related to the topic of the present study, indicating that EBN education promotes knowledge, attitudes, and skills of nursing students.
This study found that EBN educational methods can promote knowledge, attitude sand skills in undergraduate nursing students, but the review does not reach a conclusion as to the advisability of one strategy.

Situational factors influence learners’ approaches to learning and determine learning outcomes. The study determined issues in the learning environments of medical and pharmacy students at the University of Zambia with a view to providing information for improvement.
A quantitative observational design based on the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measurement (DREEM) inventory was used to survey undergraduate students’ perceptions of their learning environments. A total of 270 students – 135 in years 3 to 7 of medical school and 135 in years 3 to 5 of pharmacy school – at the University of Zambia participated. Total, subscale, and single item DREEM scores were analysed and compared.
Mean total DREEM score for all participants was 119/200 (±20.4). Scores for the subscales varied from 15/28 (±3.6) for social self-perception to 21/32 (±3.9) for academic self perception.The total and subscale scores were not significantly different between Medicine and Pharmacy at P > 0.05. Six areas of concern were observed in both programmes: lack of a social support system for stressed students, dictatorial staff, overemphasis on factual learning, tense teaching atmosphere, curriculum issues, and unpleasant accommodations. Medical students were particularly about tense classrooms and lack of feedback; pharmacy students were more likely to be concerned about curriculum issues.
The study showed that although the educational climates of healthcare programmes in medical schools may be comparable, specific programme concerns can be significantly different. Strategic planning to improve schools should consider both general perceptions and specific issues in individual programmes.

A Based on the World Health Organization’s reporting, over 1.25 million people die annually in traffic accidents worldwide. Traffic accidents are the ninth main cause of death worldwide, with an average age range of victims of 15 to 29. Broadly speaking, 90% of traffic accidents happen in the low and middle-income countries that comprise 82% of the global population, and these countries account for half of the world’s vehicles. One of the goals of the National Road Traffic Knowledge Development Trustee is to plan and implement training courses (content design, design and implementation and evaluation) for target groups. To achieve this goal and due to the lack of academic programs on traffic safety in Iran, a single-credit course, "Safety and Traffic," was developed to be run as a compulsory academic course in all universities across the country.
This course was administered as a national pilot study in four phases and in 17 medical universities across the country. All experts and national authorities in the Ministry of Science and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education were requested to provide feedback. Afterwards, the results and comments were forwarded to the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution for further investigation.Upon approval of the Council, the course will be implemented in all universities across the country.
Results from the pre-test showed that the level of students’ knowledge was low before attending the training courses. Surveys also revealed that the two items of "pedestrian safety" and "first aids in RTCs" were the most useful and applicable subjects. The percentage of wrong answers ranged from 61to 98%.
Considering the importance of traffic accidents and people’s role in traffic-related issues, itseems that it is necessary to provide university courses for traffic safety education

Health decision makers should be able to predict attitudes of medical students and factors influencing their tendency to allocate enough resources and university vacancy.These attitudes may not be always congruent with the actual and prominent health needs of society. The purpose of this study was to delineate medical students’ career prospects and general expectations.
This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 medical students who were selected through a multi-stage sampling method from all educational stages (basic science,physiopathology, clinical clerkship, internship) studying at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 2016-2017. The first five priorities for work after graduation and first five priorities for residency were studied and the Priority-Percentage Index (PPI), which considers the percentage and a reverse scoring for the priority of selecting an item, was calculated.
Principally, "pursuing one of the medical specialities" was the most desired career choice (3.73 PPI) followed by "employment in private practice" (2.08 PPI) regardless of gender, native status, and stage of education. Although the most preferred specialities were ophthalmology (1.99 PPI), cardiology (1.66 PPI) and radiology (1.44 PPI), the trend of interest varied by educational stage.
Income and reputation have a significant influence on medical students’ attitude toward specialities. Therefore, it is crucial that policy-makers note preferences in specialities and consider the society’s demand in the field of healthcare.

Considering the advancement of information technology, the use of new educational methods, such as e-learning, is undeniable. The purpose of the present study was to design and evaluate drug dose calculation multimedia software to nursing students.
After providing educational content, the software was prepared based on research findings in the field of e-learning, including Mayer’s multimedia design principles, educational evaluation criteria and an educational materials checklist. Software evaluation was done by a number of multi-disciplinary experts (n=15) and students (n=32) and by polling forms that included the characteristics of electronic resources. SPSS 20 was used to analyze the data.Independent t tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson correlation were used to assess the relationship. Also, the data are presented using mean (standard deviation) and frequency(percentages) for numeric and categorical variables.
Software evaluation by students resulted in a mean score of 57.73 (SD=10.964)(range: 14 to 70) of the maximum possible score of 70, indicating that software evaluation was excellent. There was a significant difference between the mean total score provided by female(mean=61.8, SD=6.03) compared to male (mean=52.5, SD=9.02) students (P Vital drug prescription and calculation principles multimedia software was developed using Mayer’s theory and evidence-based evaluation criteria. Results showed an excellent evaluation of the software by multi-disciplinary experts and students

Inattention to the principles of writing prescriptions might give rise to ineffective or hazardous treatment and inflict injuries to the patient. The aim of this study was to evaluate the last-year dental students’ skill in writing prescription at the Tabriz Faculty of Dentistry in2016-2017.
In this cross-sectional study, all last-year dental students (92 students) at the Tabriz Faculty of Dentistry were asked to write separate prescription for 3 patients. The level of compliance with the principles of writing prescriptions was evaluated based on the WHO checklist, which consists of the following items: patient’s name, gender and age; date of prescription; Rx symbol; the form and name of the drug; the dose of the medication; the number of the drugs to be filled; administration interval; the strength of the drug; route of administration;the signature and seal of the physician; and the refill order. Each correct item was given a positive score and each incorrect item received no score (score range: 0-45).
10.9%, 43.5% and 45.6% of the students exhibited high, moderate and low skill.The mean score was 27.75 (SD 8.75) of a total possible score of 45. There were no significant differences between male and female students (P = 0.7, CI = -4.5 to 3.2, effect size = -0.035).
Overall, final-year dental students’ skill in writing prescriptions was at a moderate level and no student fully observed all the principles for the correct method of writing prescriptions.

Professionalism training is a core component of medical education. This study’s aim was to determine medical residents’ attitudes toward professionalism and self-reported professional behaviors.
In a cross-sectional survey at Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, 100 medical residents in their first through third years were invited to participate in a survey between April and June of 2015. Participants responded to a written questionnaire consisting of 7 demographic and 42 content items in 4 domains. Content items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Results with a mean of less than three were considered undesirable. A non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare distributions in the study groups. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 22.
With a response rate of 87%, a mean age of 31.9 (SD: 3.0) was recorded. The mean Likert score for the perception of residents on the ethical importance of "colleague report"and "reporting error" was undesirable. The percentage of residents’ self-reported unprofessional behaviors during their training was high. Moreover, 71% (95% CI: 61-80) of residents believed that ethics should be formally taught in the medical school curriculum. Over 97% (95% CI: 94-100) believed that learning medical ethics and professionalism requires more than a theoretical course. A longitudinal approach was the most agreed-upon format.
Based on the findings of this research, despite a relatively acceptable rate of professional behaviors, residents perceive a need for a more comprehensive curricular attention to practical ethics and ethically important professional development during residency training.

The performance of postgraduate students depends on a comprehensive combination of scientific and practical competencies acquired during their coursework.Identifying a teaching method that can promote learning outcomes, academic writing and, most importantly, content and knowledge creation will be valuable.
Content creation based learning (CCBL) was used for a course in instructional design for 40 master’s students in medical education. The project was implemented across four semesters over 2 years. Each semester included 17 two-hour sessions. CCBL includes the following steps: finding content about the subject of each session; summarizing, organizing and writing collected content; presenting content in classroom; receiving feedback from classmates and instructor; and revising the content produced.
The results are summarized as follows: (1) At the end of the course, 16 chapters of avalid and reliable book about instructional design could be produced. (2) The mean scores of student learning were 16.78 ± 1.3 (of a possible 20 points). This is a desirable level of learning.(3) The majority of students (60%) were highly satisfied. (4) Students felt this course had positive effects of this course on their academic achievement.
The results of this scholarly activity revealed many practical issues in field of postgraduate education. Applying CCBL in postgraduate education is recommended. The researchers hope other studies about outcomes and efficacy of CCBL will provide more evidence.