Identifying physiotherapy stakeholders for program evaluation. The Health Professional Education plays a pivotal role in providing quality health work force thus improved care in health service to the public in our country. As such all Allied Health Programs conducted by Higher Education Providers (HEP) should keep close surveillance of the quality of Allied Health Programs to mould health professional graduates to deliver quality healthcare service through proper competency measures. Stakeholders have been defined as on-campus and off campus group for the sake of identifying respective views in institutional effectiveness. Allied health programs are emerging enormously in our country and this revolution is creating major crustal deformation, forming folds and faults towards its profession as many educational institutions in the country is with the enterprising objectives of running such programs and not for the benefits of the society.
Anatomy is an important knowledge for medical practice. Insufficient anatomy knowledge leading to errors in identification of anatomical structures during medical practices has been reported in many countries. Many medical students seem to have difficulties in learning anatomy and retaining the knowledge for future practice, thus this might reflect the possible flaws in anatomy education. In order to achieve optimum anatomy education environment and to close the gaps in education, measuring the students' perception on anatomy teaching and learning is a pre-emptive measure needed by educationists. At present, there is no valid and reliable inventory available to specifically evaluate the anatomy education environment. Therefore, this article highlights the importance of having such inventory.
Teaching stress management skills for medical students has been echoed as an important educational component in medical education. Discussions about approaches to teaching stress management in medical education context are largely unexplored despite of a large number of articles have emphasized on its importance. This paper describes four elements in a framework as an approach to teaching stress management skills in medical education. As one moves through the framework, it provides a greater degree of insight on stress management ability as is acquired through one's awareness, experience and conscious effort that allow stressful situations to be handled effectively and efficiently. It may provide a useful educational framework for medical teachers to teach and assess stress management skills of medical students. It also may be used as an aid in planning, implementing and evaluating stress management programs in medical schools. The authors discuss about the implications of this framework for future research in medical education.
Introduction: In order to produce competent physiotherapy graduates with the generic attributes much sought after by the health care providers in the country, the higher education institution needs to ensure the educational environment of the school is positive. Students' positive perception of their educational environment would facilitate their learning experience to be more meaningful and relevant. Objective: The aim of this study was to measure physiotherapy students' perception of their educational environment at the School of Physiotherapy AIMST University and Kolej Sains Kesihatan Bersekutu Sungai Buloh and to identify the areas of concern for remedial measures. Method: This research was a cross sectional study consisting of two phases using both quantitative followed by qualitative methods. The DREEM inventory consisting of 50 items under 5 domains was circulated to all the students (N=158) from both schools (AIMST and KSKB). The item mean scored below 2.00 were considered as problem areas and it was explored further through focus group discussion (N=12) as a qualitative study. Result: The overall mean score on the 50 items was 132.84 (SD 19.22) out of 200. Students' Perception of Learning (SPOL) scored the highest 32.34 (SD 4.17) followed by students' perception of Atmosphere (SPOA) 30.63 (SD 4.84), Students Perception of Teachers (SPOT) scored 30.52 (SD 3.98),Students Academic Self Perception (SASP) scored 22.03 (SD 3.20) and the last domain Students' Social Self Perception (SSSP) scored the least 17.32 (SD 19.22).All the domains scored toward more positive side of the educational environment. Four items scored less than 2.00 and these items were explored further with focus group discussion. Students from both schools had similarities as well as differences in their views over the concerned areas. Conclusion: This study revealed important information regarding the low scored items. Overall the students from both schools perceived their schools positively. Implementing the remedial measures for the problem areas would further enhance the respective educational environment and thus provide a conducive place for physiotherapy students to excel in their academic endeavour.
Community and family case study (CFCS) is a community based educational (CBE) programme commenced in 1980 at School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. It serves to help and resolve health needs of the individual patients, family and their community. This will help to develop generic skills such as organization, communication and problem solving in relation to local norms, beliefs and socio-cultural influences. Students should have good awareness, sensitivity and empathic response based on health needs and environment that they are living in. Knowledge, skills, attitudes, emotions and values are repeatedly exposed to inculcate optimal learning environment with the community, as well as triggered response by the student to give back to the community by volunteerism. CFCS activism can be revitalized within the individual and group context. This can be achieved by multi-dimensional learning, collaborative effort, effective leadership and supervision, creative programme initiation, effectual research activities and sustainable service to the community. It is hopeful with active community engagement, life experiences learning process, self-directed and reflective learning, students are able to acquire refined attributes such as skills, behaviour, knowledge and attitudes, towards successful personal growth and advancement.
Aim: The objective of the present study was to assess the validity and reliability of Malay version of the QOLLTI-F questionnaire.
Methods: A total of 80 Malay caregivers of cancer patients in an outpatient oncology clinic were enrolled in this study. A translated QOLLTI-F questionnaire of 16 items was used in order to assess their quality of life. Demographic characteristics were recorded. Both face and content validity of the translated version were carried out by professionals and the construct validity of the questionnaire was assessed by exploratory factor analysis.
Results: Exploratory factor analysis led to the extraction of seven factors and this was consistent with the English version. Cronbach Alpha coefficient showed good consistency of the questions within the sub-scales (Cronbach's alpha > 0.7).
Conclusion: This study was confined to a Malay population, and the analyses were potentially limited by a small sample size .Nevertheless, the translated questionnaire demonstrated valid and reliable psychometric properties when administered to Malay caregivers. Future studies are needed to see if this instrument can fit other samples in different settings and populations.
Study site: Oncology clinic, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), Kelantan, Malaysia
Medical students in Malaysia face enormous amount of stress that can compromise their medical training. A brief group Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (bMBCT)/Mindful-Gym) programme has been developed to help medical students cope more effectively with stress. The intervention was found to be effective for reducing stress and increasing subjective well-being among medical students in University Putra Malaysia (UPM). One of the training methodologies used in the programme, ‘Mindful-S.T.O.P.,’ was particularly popular among the students. The aim of this paper is to describe the concept and application of this mindfulness-based psychological tool (Mindful-S.T.O.P.) for stress reduction in medical students.
For pre-post and cross-over design analysis of numerical data, paired t-test is the simplest analysis to perform. Planning such study, it is imperative to calculate appropriate sample size required for the test to detect hypothesized difference. However, the sample size formula requires determination of standard deviation of difference, which is not commonly reported. In this article, the author guides the reader to calculation of standard deviation of difference from standard deviation of each separate occasion.
Evaluating scientific quality of a journal is a notoriously cumbersome problem that so far no standard consensus. Preferably, scientific journals should be examined by real experts in the field and given scores on quality according to standard guidelines. Nevertheless, information scientists (i.e. scientometricians) have developed a diverse range of tools to examine scientific merits of scientific publications that mainly depending on various indexes that counting citations. The impact factor (IF) is commonly used to examine the visibility of a journal. It is the average number of citations a paper of a journal attracts in the two years following its publication.
Introduction: Appropriate professional conduct of clinical teacher is vital in their medicine practice. In UKM medical centre Malaysia, personal and professional development (PPD) of future medical professionals is greatly emphasized. The objective of this study was to determine the medical students' perception about the professional conduct of their clinical teachers at UKM medical centre. Methods: It was an online questionnaire survey conducted among the clinical students enquiring about the professional conduct of their clinical teachers. There were five statements and one open ended question which described students' preference about PPD teaching- learning method, expectation on PPD session, need of teachers training and experience about the excellent and inappropriate professional conduct of clinical teachers. The open ended question described what students had observed regarding the 'doctor-patient relationship' medical ethics and 'student-teacher relationship. A total of 77 questionnaires were returned after complete evaluation. The data were compiled and analysed using SPSS version 20 and the answers to the open ended questions were transcribed. Result: Role modelling was the preferred teaching-learning method for PPD as stated by 38% respondents; subsequent preferred methods were small group (30%), role play (24%), large group (7%) and reflective writing (1%). Majority (67.5%) respondents indicated that professional conduct of their clinical teachers was frequent enough as they had expected while 29.9% claimed that professional conduct was infrequently emphasized. Excellent professional conduct of clinical teachers was witnessed by 73% respondents while 27% indicated that they had never seen excellent conduct. When asked about inappropriate professional behaviours by clinical teachers, 53% indicated to have witnessed. Qualitative data also revealed both positive and negative experiences as reflected in open comments. According to 70% respondents clinical teachers required training to apply PPD in their daily practices. Conclusion: Professional conduct of clinical teachers as perceived by the students was excellent and frequents enough with experience of inappropriate behaviour too. Role modeling was the preferred teaching method while attention needed on reflective assignment. Educators must emphasize on role modelling in their daily practices and curriculum planners should give due importance on training needs of clinical teachers to apply PPD in their daily practices.
Journal business models are basically classified based on the source of income to cover publication costs and in general there are two main journal business models which are the toll-access and open-access. These leading to a question that still remains around the ethics of publishing academic work across the different journal business models in terms of (a) editorial decision-making and (b) the dissemination of research that has not been appropriately peer-reviewed for quality and rigor. This paper discussed about these two areas based on the literature and the authors' observations.
Objective: This paper intended to review and analyse relevant published articles which have studied or applied multimedia as the educational medium for patients or their caregivers. The benefits were also recorded.
Method: The search was performed across the databases EBSCO Host, Springer Link, Science Direct and PubMed for relevant studies. Only full-text articles using English as a language of publication were included. Eligible articles included any usage of multimedia intervention as health information delivery for patients or caregivers. No restriction for publication date was set to permit a wider capture.
Result: Twenty articles met the inclusion criteria involving a total of 1,797 respondents. The studies have been conducted in various countries mostly in North American region followed by Europe. The focused disease for each study varied from asthma to cognitive impairment but most were on cancer. Problems in caregiving and depression were also reported. The overall data suggested that the multimedia-based education had generated modest improvement in self-efficacy, patient satisfaction, coping skills, and perceptions of social support. Cost benefits were also recorded. Additionally, patients’ behavioural changes were well maintained in parallel with the intervention programme.
Conclusion: The evolution of multimedia as an educational medium is growing and its incorporation has benefited health education management especially in improving patients’ and their family’s psychosocial outcomes. However, due to still limited scientific evidence to support its value, further multimedia-based interventions should be developed out of the need to share information and knowledge among patients as well as caregivers.
This paper discusses the ethical issues of patient autonomy based on a case of a patient who refused medication during Ramadhan fasting period. Issues on patient autonomy include the right of a patient to refuse medication, informed decision making, the importance of effective communication and the physician roles and responsibilities are discussed. In conclusion, patient autonomy must be respected and valued. However, the need of effective communication in facilitating informed decision making to improve doctor-patient relationship, should not be overlooked and compromised.
Autonomy is widely accepted to be the third pillar of medical ethics. However, if it comes to refusal of life saving treatments, some extra considerations are necessary, especially if decisions are made by surrogate decision makers. Four cases of problematic decision making are presented here, followed by a discussion about the cultural and religious misconceptions about the rights of surrogate decision makers.
Introduction: Attitudes towards animal welfare are important in influencing how animals are treated. Studies of attitudes towards animal welfare in veterinary students are scarce. It is hope that the findings will enhace a diverse research in the future in order to explore variety of factors in relation to animal welfare since such study is currently limited.
Objective: The study is to determine the associations of gender,year of study and empathy level of undergraduate DVM students in UPM into their attitude towards animal welfare.
Method: Questionnaires were given to 440 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine undergraduate students in UPM to study the associations between gender,year of study and empathy level with attitudes towards animal welfare. Data were collected from respondents through two sets of self guided questionnaires. Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) which assessed empathy level where only two sub-scales from the IRI were used. Empathic Concern (EC) and Perspective Taking (PT). Animal Attitude Scales (AAS) were used to assess attitudes towards animal welfare. Data collected were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20.
Result: 367 (83.4%) out of 440 students participated in this study. Antu-animal welfare attitude (74.9%) was the highest compared to the pro-animal welfare attitude (25.1%). Analysis showed a significant difference (p0.005) between gender and attitudes towards animal welfare (p=0.057) as well as between empathy level and attitudes towards animal welfarefor empathic concern sub-scale (p=0.194) and perspective taking sub-scale (p=0.320).
Conclusion: Majority of sudents were categorized as anti-animal welfareand the attitudes were significantly different among years of study. Female and malestudents have nomsignificant differences in their attitudes towards animal welfare. Students with ggod and poor empathy level also have no significant difference in their attitudes towards animal welfare.
Introduction: Entrepreneurship CMIE 1022 module was introduced in February 2012 and was made compulsory to all first year undergraduate students in all faculties of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The main objective of CMIE 1022 is to expose the students to entrepreneurship with implementation of online teaching and business game simulation.
Method: Module evaluation form was distributed among medical and nursing students at the end of the module.
Result: One hundred seventy-seven students responded to the survey with 50.3% of the respondents agreed that their soft skill have improved, 37.8% for increased awareness of entrepreneurship, 25.6% has increased their interest in entrepreneurship and 22.22% agreed to apply in their own courses. More than three quarter of the students agreed that the lecturers and teaching assistants teaching methodology were acceptable. However, only 18.4% agreed that this course should be taken by all students of UKM.
Conclusion: This study showed despite increase in soft skills and interests including high performance of the academics, most students disagreed on the introduction of CMIE 1022 course to all UKM students. It is suggested that the course curriculum to be reviewed in order to achieve the objectives.
Context: Question vetting is important to ensure validity, reliability, and other quality indicators of assessment tools, including the MCQ. Faculty members invest a substantial amount of time and effort into the MCQ vetting process. However, there is shortage of scientific evidence showing its effectiveness and at which level it needs to be focused on. This study aimed to provide scientific evidence regarding the effects of question vetting process on students’ examination performance by looking at their scores and pass-fail outcomes.
Method: A parallel randomized control trial was conducted on third year medical students in a medical school. They were randomly assigned into two equal groups (i.e. control and experimental). Two mock examinations were conducted (i.e. time I and time II). At time I, non-vetted MCQs were administered to both groups as a baseline measurement. At time II, vetted MCQs were administered to the experimental group, while the same non-vetted MCQs were administered to the control group.
Results: Out of 203 students, 129 (63.5%) participated in both mock examinations. 65 students were in the control group and 64 students were in the experimental group. Statistical analysis showed no significant differences (p > 0.05) in mean examination scores and pass-fail outcomes between or within the control and experimental groups.
Conclusion: This study indicated that the MCQ vetting process did not influence examination performance. Despite these findings, the MCQ vetting process should still be considered an important activity to ensure that test items are developed at the highest quality and standards. However, it can be suggested that such activity can be done at the departmental level rather than at the central level.
Introduction: Teaching strategy for nursing students need to be varied for the future preparation and to increase confident level in delivering quality care to patients. Interprofessional learning (IPL) is a way to encourage collaboration among health professional teams that will drive them to collaborate with, from and about other profession and thus, it allow students to have greater knowledge. Currently, they are unable to learn together during the clinical posting due to professional boundaries. Objective: To explore nursing student knowledge and perception on interprofessional learning. Method: This paper presents a focus group discussion with a group of nursing students (n= 8). A semi structured guide was used and focused on knowledge, experiences and benefit related to IPL. Result: Data was analysed and four major themes emerged; 1. learning with, from and about other health professionals, 2. communication skills, 3. teamwork and 4. future preparation. Conclusion: This study suggested that the interprofessional learning in the teaching and learning strategy should be introduced to the nursing students as to involve them with interprofessional learning and extend their understanding on other health professionals roles. In addition, it is an opportunity for them to work collaboratively with other health professionals.
Objective: To determine association between academic performance and absenteeism in classroom among first year medical students.
Methods: A one-year prospective study was conducted on 196 first year medical students. Academic performance was measured by examination scores at four examinations. Absenteeism score was measured by the cumulative number of absence in an academic session of each student recorded by academic office at the end of the first year of medical training. The academic performance was categorized into pass and fail for analysis purpose. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 20.
Results: The independent-t analysis showed that, in all examinations, students who passed the examinations had significantly lower absenteeism scores than those who failed (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: This study found significant associations between academic performances and absenteeism scores among first year medical students. Medical schools should pay more attention on this matter since it may result in poor academic performances.
Objective: The study aimed to obtain the perspective and teaching practice of novice lecturers serving at the training institutions, Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH).
Method: A qualitative research was conducted on 4 novice lecturers at the Medical Assistant College, Seremban. Data were obtained from interview and observation on their teaching in the lecture rooms. The data analysis was performed by using NVivo 9 software.
Result: In the aspect of the teaching perspective, the finding showed that there were two main themes; teaching concept and the teaching method. As far as the teaching concept is concerned, respondents perceived that lecturers were the source of knowledge and those who transfered the knowledge to the students. Meanwhile, the second perspective related to the teaching approach in which lecturers need to use their experiences, they need to be knowledgeable and creative in their teaching. The integration of the themes has formed the main perspective, which was the lecturer-centered teaching. In turn, in the teaching practice, it was consistent with their perspective whereby the approach of teaching is lecturer-centered.
Conclusion: This study showed that new lecturers would employ the lecturer-centered approach. Apart from that, they were also lacking of the skills in terms of class control and value inculcation. The deficiency in both these aspects needs to be overcome as it can affect the effectiveness of the teaching, also the quality of the graduates produced.