Journal of Medical Education
Volume:19 Issue: 2, May 2020

The findings on changes in the level of nursing students’ empathy during the university education are contradictory, and it’s not clear whether it decreases/increases after four years of education.

The current study aimed to investigate the level of nursing students’ empathy during different years of education.

In this descriptive study, 122 undergraduate nursing students from the first to the fourth year of the program are included. Data were collected using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy Nursing Student Version-R and analyzed by the descriptive and analytical tests in SPSS version 21.

The mean score of empathy was 91.8±28.7. The level of empathy significantly declines in the fourth year of education, compared to the first year (P < 0.001).

This study showed that the level of empathy of nursing students significantly declines in the fourth year, so exploring its causes would be useful. Also, empathy should be introduced to the nursing students as one of the standards of clinical competency using strategies such as education for empathic communication with the patient in nursing training programs.

E-learning is essential in health science education, and the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated its utility.

The study aimed to observe the changes in the scenario of e-learning in Indian Medical Education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 905 undergraduate health science students who agreed with an online survey. A questionnaire was prepared, including sociodemographic details, utilization of commercially available e-learning programs before the pandemic, and the scenario of teaching-learning activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was validated and circulated among medical students of various states across India through social media. Qualitative data were presented as numbers and percentages and quantitative data as mean (SD).

Of the 905 students surveyed, 69.17% (n = 626) were female students and 30.83% (n = 279) were male students. Besides, 85% (n = 395) of the students found commercial programs useful in clarifying concepts. Institutional e-learning was mandatory for 71.16% (n = 644) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 644 students for whom e-learning was mandatory, 69.10% (n = 445) found tools like videoconferencing, Google classroom, zoom meetings, etc. useful in flexibility and autonomy. However, 50.47% (n = 325) of the students preferred a combined method of classroom teaching and e-learning, whereas only 9.93% (n = 64) of students preferred only e-learning as a method of teaching. They were satisfied with institutional programs for clarifying concepts (n = 386; 60%) and communication skills (n = 320; 50%).

The utility of e-learning has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, students preferred e-learning in combination with traditional teaching, especially in health science courses.

Assessment is one of the most important elements of any educational system, including the e-learning. Formative assessment is also a significant type of assessment, which plays a very important role in identifying students’ strengths and weaknesses and helping to improve learning in the e-learning system.

The purpose of this study was to identify weaknesses of formative assessment in the e-learning management system of Iran (case study: Shahid Beheshti University).

The present study was qualitative research. The participants of the study consisted of the students of the e-learning Center of Shahid Beheshti University of Iran, 15 of whom were selected using a purposive sampling method. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Content analysis was also used to analyze the data.

Formative assessment in the e-learning management system of Shahid Beheshti University suffers from eleven substantial weaknesses: weakness in technology infrastructure resources, not using other formative assessment tools, weakness in giving and receiving feedback, inability to authenticate, weakness in class presentations, weakness in exercises and projects, weakness in online tests, weakness in discussions, inattention to formative assessment, restrictions on uploading assignments and activities, and observance of the ratio of teachers to students.

The above weaknesses should be taken into consideration for the improvement of formative assessment, student learning, and the status quo.

 Medical defense against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats should be established through systematic education in college and career development training to counter the response successfully.

 Taking the course of Medical Countermeasures against CBRN Weapons is compulsorily for all military medical students in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In the present study, a modularized course for field training of Chemical Defense Medicine is provided, which is an important part of the Integrated Military Medicine Exercise (IMME) conducted annually in PLA military medical university.

 The established modules are functionally designed as passing through a contaminated area with protective posture, operating chemical defense equipment, battlefield rescue after a chemical attack, and early treatment of chemically contaminated casualties. This modularized training is task-oriented, function-based, and integrate with a functional drill, which provides an example in the training of CBRN defense medicine.

Acquiring the participants’ viewpoints of continuing medical education (CME) programs about the implementation of these programs is of special importance.

The current study aimed to assess the educational needs in CME programs by evaluating the pharmacists’ points of view and motivation for more active participation in these programs.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), from October 2013 to April 2018, 142. Pharmacists were randomly assigned among participants. Self-administered questionnaires were designed, and their content validity and reliability were determined by CME experts and Cronbach’s alpha measurement, respectively.

According to the pharmacists, restoring their previous knowledge and acquiring new information (84.5%) were the main reasons for participating in CME programs. Fifty seven percent of pharmacists insisted on the applied aspects of CME programs and stated clinical pharmacology and therapeutics as the most interesting topic (50%). Fifty-two percent of participants selected a combination of lecture and panel discussion as a perfect method for CME presentation. The programs’s levels in knowledge and skills or attitude promotion were evaluated high and very high by 41.9 and 44.5% of pharmacists, respectively.

Most community pharmacists who participated in CME programs of IUMS had acceptable attendance with this study. It seemed that CME programs were reasonably by their expectations. The participants also had many interesting and valuable comments and expectations, based on which the planning of future programs may lead to enhance their motivation and improve their quality and satisfaction.

 Harnessing the potentials of applications (apps) for clinical training and practice has turned into the focal point of innovation.

 The current study was aimed to determine knowledge, perception, and medical apps use among medical students of a Nigerian University.

 In this cross-sectional study, 320 medical students (193 males and 127 females) are participated, with a response rate of 90.9%. The face and content validity was determined by a pilot test on obtained information about knowledge, perception, and use of medical applications, as well as socio-demographic characteristics. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Alpha level was set at P < 0.05.

 The 12-months and point prevalence of smartphone ownership and using smartphone-based medical apps were 90% and 81.9%; and 65.9% and 50.9%, respectively. There was a high level of knowledge (81.9%), and positive perception (80%) about medical apps use. Knowledge of medical apps usage was significantly associated with each of age (χ2 = 30.541, P = 0.001) and academic levels (χ2 = 19.270, P = 0.001). A significant association was found between the perception of medical apps and age (χ2 = 13.554, P = 0.004). Also, there was a significant association between current use of medical apps and each of age (χ2 = 12.018, P = 0.007) and academic levels (χ2 =11.297, P = 0.002).

 Although smartphone ownership was high among Nigerian medical students, their usage of smartphone-based medical apps was moderate. Being of younger age and higher level of study are major contributors to a high level of knowledge and positive perception about medical apps use.
 

 Regularly monitoring of educational activities is of undisputed importance in residency training programs. Various educational and training activities can be recorded in a logbook, including giving a lecture, participating in training courses, morning reports, providing particular procedures and skills.

 The current study aimed to compare a newly launched web-based logbook to a paper-based logbook to identify potential strengths and weaknesses.

 Emergency medicine residents of postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) and 2 (PGY2) and faculty members participated in the present study. Electronically collected data from February-April 2014 were compared to those of paper logbooks for the same period in the previous year. Furthermore, to evaluate the perspectives of both students and faculty members on the web-based logbook, a survey was implemented.

 In total 47 residents recorded their activities in the web-based logbook. For the same period in the previous year, logbooks of 40 residents were available. The frequency of work shifts in paper and web-based logbook was 668 and 1020, respectively (P = 0.4). However, a significant difference was observed concerning the work shifts recorded in the logbook and those confirmed by a faculty member [416 (62.3%) in the paper logbook and 945 (92.7%) in the web-based logbook, P value = 0.05]. Also, the frequency of unconfirmed procedures, review of medical cases, morning reports, rotations, and direct observation of procedural skills were significantly lower in the web-based logbook (P value = 0.0001). Based on the results of the survey, 55.55% of faculty members and 66.66% of residents reported the effectiveness of the web-based logbook.

 This study demonstrated the potential of web-based logbooks to improve recording activities of residents and assisting faculty members to precisely monitor their activities.