Critical Thinking Abilities among Students of Medicine in Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, 2011

Background and Critical thinking has a major role in desirable professional attribute and a highly valued educational outcome. The aim of this paper was to assess the dimensions of critical thinking abilities among medical students in Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Using multistage cluster random sampling, 120 medical students were assessed. Critical thinking skills were measured using the California critical thinking skills test (CCTST). The data was analyzed through descriptive statistics and t-test in SPSS. In this study 118 students completed CCTST questionnaire. The mean of critical thinking score for medical students was 10.91±3.37. Dimensions of critical thinking were not related to gender, marital status, and academic level (P>0.05). This study revealed that critical thinking did not enhance among medical students while studying at university. It is widely believed that critical thinking is essential to clinical decision-making, so lecturers in medical universities should focus more on nurturing critical thinking in order to improve the clinical competency of medical students.