Medical students' perceptions of the educational environment in a private medical school in southwest Nigeria

The educational environment plays a very important role in determining the overall performance of students. The aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of undergraduate medical students about their educational environment in a Nigerian university.

This was an observational, cross‑sectional study conducted among final‑year (600 level) undergraduate medical students. The Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire was used for the study to assess the educational environment of the medical students.

A total number of 100 final‑year (600 level) undergraduate medical students participated in the study, out of which 27 (27.0%) were males and 73 (73.0%) were females with a male‑to‑female ratio of 0.37 to 1. The age range of the respondents was 21–30 years with a mean (±SD) of 23.54 (±1.403). The total mean DREEM score was 116.2/200. The total score of SPL domain was 30.2/48 (62.9%). The total score of SPT domain was 27.3/44 (62.0%), while that of SASP was 19.2/32 (60.0%). The total score of SPA domain was 26.6/48 (55.4%) and that of SSP was 13.1/28 (46.8%). For the SPL, SPT, SASP, and SPA domains, the score was above 50%. However, for the SSP domain the score was less than 50%.

The total mean DREEM score in this study was 116.2/200, more positives than negatives, with the students’ social perspective having the least domain score. There is a need to provide adequate social support system for medical students in general and particularly for those who get stressed.