Strides in Development of Medical Education
Volume:7 Issue: 1, 2010

The number of research misconduct cases seems to be increasing so the need for developing a disciplinary charter of research misconduct is felt more than ever. This study was aimed to propose and develop a charter to determine types of research misconduct and dealing with them.

In this qualitative study, three consensus rounds were conducted. Each round consisted of five to six qualified experts with related specialties. They included one member of academic staff with sufficient experience in research management, two experts in professional ethics, and two experts in legal affairs. Each session lasted for 1.5 to 2 hours. Based on an extensive literature review and personal experiences, the different types of research misconduct were extracted in the first two sessions and in the third round, agreement on classification of research misconduct was made

In general, 49 types of research misconduct were explored and defined including 17 mild, 22 moderate and 10 severe ones. Based on the severity of each type, an appropriate penalty like "verbal warnings and summons" to "early retirement with reduced payment base" was determined. Finally the expert panel made some comments.

The results of this study revealed different types of research misconduct and dealing with them. Such an understanding can lead to a better design of national charters compatible with Iranian culture and it can also be as a base for preventive interventions

Cost-benefit analysis is a scientific method which helps policy makers to select a project among other projects, with the same defined goal, making sure that the chosen project has the maximum benefit with a fixed cost or the minimum cost with a fixed level of benefit. Therefore, universities should consume the resources more carefully and efficiently. This survey was conducted to provide documents for evidence based decision making for policymakers.

Having the cooperation of the admission office, the number of medical students was extracted and then with the assistance of university budgeting manager, total costs were extracted regarding education, research, cultural-recreational affairs and management emphasizing on medicine field. Finally, data was analyzed with Excel.

Our findings showed that the per capita cost in education was 268.3 million rials, in research, it was 13.25 million rials, and as for cultural-recreational affairs and management, it was 7.4 and 14.45million rials respectively. The sum of per capita costs was 303.4 million rials

The calculated cost is fivefold the amount which was allocated as a per capita cost. The total cost of the university was more than the amount allocated by the management and planning organization; this necessitates further revisions in allocating recourses to universities by management and planning organization.

To offer a better care in complex clinical environments and with rapid changesin technology, nurses need to improve their problem-solving skill. Student-centered and active learning approaches are more effective in this regard. Hence, this study was to determine the effect of Problem-BaseLearning (PBL) on nursing student's learning level.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 32 nursing students (in their fifth semester) whhad chosen mental health course in Golestan University of Medical Sciences in 2007. The students were randomly divided into two groups of cases (8 persons) and controls (24 persons). Having applied PBL and lecture during the course, learning was evaluated via theoretical exams of similar content and cognitive levin two groups, right at the end and two months after the course. Data was analyzed using Mann-Whitney anindependent t- Test. The level of significance was 0.05.

Most of the students, with a mean (±SD) age of 21.85(±1.97) years, were single (90.62%), and lived in a dormitory (75%). Although the mean scores were higher in cases compared to the controls two months after the course, there was no significant difference in both groups regarding overall learning. However, a significant difference was seen in different cognitive levels (P<0.0001); this implies that lecturbased learning students got a better score in knowledge level whereas PBL students received a higher scorein tests of analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

our results suggest that although both forms of teaching were effective, PBL seemed to be more effective than Lecture Based Learning in improving knowledge level and constant learning

An effective teaching is a collection of teachers’ behaviors leading to educational goals and better learning. This study was conducted to determine the indices of an effective teaching from teachers’ and students’ point of view in Guilan University of Medical Sciences in 2005.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 90 teachers according to consensus and 200 students randomly selected participated. Data was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire, which its content validity and test-retest reliability were already confirmed. The questionnaires, including four main domains of scholarship, teaching method, communication ability and personality, were completed in a self-reporting way.

Our findings suggest that the main domains of an effective teaching, according to teachers’ point of view, include scholarship, teaching method and communication ability whereas students’ believed that communication ability, teaching method, personality and scholarship are in priority. There was a significant relationship between sex and teachers’ point of view about teaching indices (P=0.043). There was no significant relationship between students’ demographic information and their point of view.

According to our results and to improve teaching quality, it is recommended to consider the characteristics of an effective teaching according to students’ point of view and create objective and valid evolution forms to promote educational quality, the final goal of evaluation.

Identifying effective factors of job satisfaction amongst academic staff could be useful in improving their job satisfaction and motivating them to perform educational and research activities. Hence, this study was performed to investigate the effective individual, environmental and occupational factors of job satisfaction amongst the academic staff of University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences.

In this descriptive-analytical study, 94 members of academic staff of University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences participated. In order to analyze the data, stepwise regression, Pearson correlation coefficient, independent sample t-Test, Kurskal-Wallis test, one way ANOVA and descriptive statistics were applied.

The mean (±SD) of academic staff’s job satisfaction score was 72.6 (± 16.91) out of 135. Marital status, personal car possession, academic degree and position, spouse’s educational status and the status of personal house possession influenced academic staff’s job satisfaction (P<0.05). In addition, age, number of children and the amount of income gained from outside university activities had a significant relationship with academic staff’s job satisfaction.

Job satisfaction has a significant relationship with factors including economics, education, research, administrative affairs, motivation and facilities. Provided that factors such as lack of enough salary, facilities, etc. are well taken care of, academic staff’s job satisfaction would improve.

Students’ educational success is of utmost importance. As educational slump has always been a great concern in different fields, this study was conducted to assess ≤the effective factors on educational status of midwifery students in Babol University of Medical Sciences.

This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 152 midwifery students. According to the Grade Point Average (GPA) of previous terms, students were classified into three groups including good (GPA≥17), average (14<GPA<17) and weak (GPA≤14). Data was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire.

Out of 152 midwifery students, %10.5 were regarded as weak, %76.3 and %13.2were regarded as average and good respectively. In three groups, there were no significant difference considering demographic, family, social and economical factors; however, mental factors including family problems (p=0.03), relationship with the sex (p=0.007) and communicational problems with friends of the same sex (p=0.024) were more prevalent in poor students compared to the other groups. Among educational factors attending classes (p=0.007), educational planning (p=0.023) and taking notes in class (p=0.03) were significantly effective factors.

According to our findings, factors effective on mental health and education have the highest influence on the students’ educational status. Consequently, psychological and educational counseling and holding workshops about planning, studying and learning methods are essential.

Effective evaluation is one the most important basic issues of educational processes and not only to diverse the students, but also help the instructor in his activities.

The aim of this study was to detect the methods of evaluation by instructors in Shahrekord university of medical sciences.

In this descriptive study, 122 instructor answered to a questionnaire. The validity of questionnaire was detected by the experts, viewpoints and its relibility was determined by alph chronbakh (0.79).Data was analyzed by spss and p<0.05 was concidered significant.

69.4% of instructors used final and continuous evaluation and 16.2% used only final evaluation. Explanatory and multi-choice questions were the most common questions in examinations. 88.3% Of instructors believed that the final examination is the most important criteria in their evaluation and 38.2% used mid-term examination.

final and continuous evaluation were the most methods in evaluation.Most of questions were explanatory and multiple-choice and were selected before examination and not during the designing of course plan. mid-term examination and selection of questions during the designing of course plan writing is suggested.

Evaluation of academic staff is conducted in different ways. One of these methods which are commonly applied nowadays is asking students (the only group that experience the direct effect of teaching during the course) about their opinions. Hence, this study was conducted to present the students’ viewpoints about the evaluation of academic staff’s performance using evaluation forms.

In this qualitative, using phenomenology, 40 students of nursing, midwifery, medicine, and allied health sciences from different semesters were participated in individual semi-structured interviews and group discussions in order to understand their viewpoints and experiences about evaluation of academic staff in theoretical courses. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data was analyzed using the "content analysis" method.

Our findings suggest that although the students are in agreement with evaluating the academic staff, they are reluctant to fill in the forms and stated that the current situation is not satisfactory. "Change, relativity, a student as a judge, non-effective time, open doors, effective question, and non-effective question" represent students’ viewpoints and experiences about evaluating academic staff in theoretical courses using evaluation forms. The participants emphasized the evaluation should be used as a positive reinforcement for improving education quality.

Academic staff is the main elements in students’ learning and could act inhibitors and facilitators. By teaching evaluation, one can make changes or corrections in further programs. Meanwhile, creative interventions are essential to satisfy students

Need assessment is can be applied as a tool for a better usage by managers and designers of Continuous Medical Education (CME) programs. Hence, this study was conducted to assess general practitioners’ viewpoints about Continuous Medical Education Programs held in Zanjan University of Medical Education.

This descriptive study was conducted on all general practitioners of Zanjan province (450 persons) but only 260 ones participated by filling in the questionnaires.

The motive to participate in CME programs in 46.2% of the participants was gaining credit points while updating scientific information was reported in 38.8% of them. 58.8 percent of the physicians believed that the effect of CME programs was moderate to high; 56.5% wanted 5 to 10 CME programs a year. The influence of CME programs’ place was high to very high according to 64.2% of the participants; 51.2 percent preferred weekends whereas 40.7% preferred daily four-hour programs. 58.8 percent were in favor of holding pre-tests and post-tests to determine the qualitative effect of the program.

According to general practitioners, CME programs could be more effective. So it is recommended to hold these programs at the weekends, one day a week and four hours a day. Five to ten programs are also suggested in a year

Drug calculation is an essential skill for nurses. However, numerous studies have demonstrated that such a skill is weak among nursing students or even nurses. This study was designed to determine the effect of education through workshop on nursing students’ rapid and sustained learning regarding infused drug calculating skills.

In this semi-experimental study, 28 nursing students studying in the second semester were recruited. Data was collected using a questionnaire including demographic information and ten questions about infused drug calculating. This questionnaire was distributed before, immediately after and 3 months after the workshop.

The students’ mean (±SD) score in pre-test was 4.23 (±2.43) and it was 18.22 (±1.33) and 14.12 (±57) in two consecutive post-tests, respectively. Comparing the mean scores revealed that the mean scores of the first and second post-tests were significantly higher than pre-test while the second post-test score was significantly less than the first one (p<0.0001).

Our results suggest that although the drug calculating workshop increased the students’ drug calculating skills immediately after the education, but their knowledge significantly decreased after three months; hence it is recommended that nursing instructors evaluate students’ knowledge in this regard at their entrance to the wards and conduct essential practices if needed.