This study was conducted to examine the relationship between smartphone addiction, sleep quality, and academic performance. The study presented quantitative research on 323 students in a public university in Sabah to explore the relationship between smartphone addiction, sleep quality, and academic performance. A simple random sampling was used in the study. The Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version (SAS-SV) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used in this study. SPSS was used as a tool of analysis for descriptive and inferential analysis. Pearson correlation was involved to test the hypothesis of the study. The result indicated that the greater the smartphone addiction, the lower the academic performance of university students. The finding also proved that students with poor sleep quality might exhibit low academic performance. Smartphone addiction was found to be associated with sleep quality where overusing smartphones was related to poor sleep quality in university students. On this basis, the problem of smartphone addiction and sleep quality should be tackled in order to improve the academic performance of university students and their overall health.
Introduction: Nowadays, there is a worldwide trend for universities to utilize the benefits of e-learning as a mechanism to facilitate improvements in teaching and learning. Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of using e-learning in the teaching of fixed prosthodontic course i.e. FPeL.
Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of questionnaire data, collected from fourth and fifth year dental undergraduates at the Faculty of Dentistry, National University of Malaysia (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM). For fixed prosthodontics (FP), all students had received a series of traditional classroom lectures, seminars, video demonstration, preclinical and Fixed Prosthodontics e-Learning or FPeL in semester 1 and 2 during their 4th year. The questionnaire of 4 sections was administered after the students completed fixed prosthodontics course.
Results: Questionnaires were returned by 136 students (80.9% response rate). Unfortunately, the response rate dropped 12.4% when only 115 students accessed and used the FPeL (68.5%). Majority of FPeL users felt PFeL was beneficial to their learning in the fixed prosthodontic course. PFeL users recommended printable version with detailed explanations, illustrated with more photos and with addition of references.
Conclusions: PFeL assisted users in the learning process of fixed prosthodontics.
Objective: The aim of this paper is to examine medical students’ views on the usefulness of a community project as a venue to train professionalism. Methods:Medical students at Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences (CUCMS) were surveyed following psychiatry community projects organized during year 4 undergraduate attachments in psychiatry. Results: A total of 176 students returned the survey forms. A majority of medical students thought that the psychiatry community project promotes teamwork and leadership skills. About a quarter thought that it helped foster their communication ability and encouraged them to be more reflective in their daily lives. These findings were translated into the potential of the community project to train “collaborative” and “managerial” affective domain learning outcomes of the university. Conclusions: The findings indicate that psychiatry community project or similar programmes may be useful tools to train several elements of medical professionalism. Future research however should utilise specific measurements to confirm this finding.
Objectives: The Bahasa Malaysia (BM) version of Depression Anxiety Stress Scales 21-item (DASS-21) has been widely used ever since the establishment of its validity. To consolidate the evidence of the BM DASS-21 validity by examining its concurrent validity.
Methods: The BM DASS was administered together with the Hospital Anxiety and Depressive Scale (HADS) to a total of 246 patients at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Infertility Centre.
Results: The anxiety domain of BM DASS-21 had good correlation with anxiety domain in HADS (0.61) but for DASS depressive domain, it had modest correlation with its respective domain in HADS (0.49).
Conclusions: The results of this study further ensconced the evidence that the BM DASS-21 had relatively satisfactory psychometric properties for clinical subjects in Malaysia.
On-campus foodservices were thought to be the first choice for university students to dine in. However, these seemingly captive consumers have been opting for off-campus foodservice as their preferred outlet. This paper aims to uncover specific factors that motivate undergraduate students to dine-in at university foodservice facilities using Profile Accumulation Technique (PAT). PAT is a semi-quantitative method that provides freedom for informants to answer in their own terms and words, alternatively the data could be analyzed statistically. 115 questionnaires were distributed to students and staff of a local university. Findings include a list of factors (positive perception, negative perception and expectations) that the students considered to be significant in determining their choice of food outlet. These factors are then descriptively analyzed to determine attributes influencing university customer preferences. This paper significantly contributes in providing a deeper insight into factors that influences dining choice of university foodservice's customers in Malaysia.
As we move towards the knowledge (K) era, the challenge in R&D is to focus on the development of original K-based products that can compete in the global market. The development of commercially viable, patented K-based products within a university environment require an innovation system and innovation policies in place and a change in the paradigm towards the approach to research. A crucial agent towards the success of the innovation system is development and training of the human capital that would be the future drivers of the K-industry. Awareness of intellectual property rights, the need for original research, entrepreneurship as well as the development and strengthening of self-confidence and leadership are among the factors needed towards the training of K-workers facing the new economy.
The discipline of psychiatry requires the use of thinking skills to perform a number of tasks. The assessment of a patient’s history, his mental state especially the evaluation of thought disorders, the formulation of a diagnosis and differential diagnosis, the formulation of a management plan for what are often complex human problems and the wise application of therapeutic techniques, all require complex thinking skills. The process of communication with patients and their relatives is often fraught with pitfalls that requires a thoughtful approach that makes use of consciously shared information as well as non-verbal information. Evaluating scientific papers is another area that requires critical thinking. At times the lack of critical thinking is painfully apparent. It appears that schools, and sadly universities too, are merely training people and not educating them. Occasionally, of course, one is pleasantly surprised to come across a student with a very sharp and critical mind.
Consumers are reported to be increasingly concerned about their health. Nonetheless, consumers show different attitudes toward food at home and away from home. In particular, consumers tend to shy away from healthy food items when dining on special occasions. This study is the first to look into the number of healthy menu items provided to consumers during dining occasions. The impacts of two independent variables (dining occasion: normal vs. special; number of healthy items: limited vs. extended) on consumers’ dining menu selection was examined among female university students. The results of this study indicate that both dining occasion and the number of healthy items offered could influence consumers’ food selection independently. Although consumers are more likely to choose unhealthy items while dining’on special occasions, offering more healthy items would increase the probability of healthy eating. This study also offers some insights into the food categories and cooking methods favored by consumers. Further studies should explore other potential foods that would enhance the selection of healthy options by consumers.
This study examines the relationship between religiosity and level of happiness in an Islamic context among Muslim students studying at Malaysian universities. The determinants of happiness included in this research are positive attitudes, self-esteem, and other-esteem. Religiosity has long been considered as the main determinant in increasing happiness, and educational level strengthens its relationship. For this purpose, the researchers sampled 230 Muslim students aged 17-40 years studying at Malaysian universities in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The study found a positive and significant correlation between religious commitment and level of happiness. Religious commitment also shows positive and significant correlations with positive attitudes, self-esteem, and other-esteem. The study also concludes that educational attainment moderates the relationship between religious commitment and happiness. Thus, religious commitment plays a very important role in increasing levels of happiness.
Mastering the art of conducting a research along with the competitive era of publishing papers showed the importance of undergraduate research. The purpose of this research was to study the impact of undergraduate research “Special Study Module (SSM)” on Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) medical students and alumni.
Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study whereby 64 fifth year UKM medical students of academic-session 2014/2015 and 49 alumni of year 2010 were participated on their SSM research activities. The questionnaire administered online which enquired on participants’ level of interest, confidence and SSM research experiences. Frequency and percentage distribution were used for descriptive analysis.
Result: Out of 119 participants,113 responded giving a response rate of 95%. More than 90% respondents in both group felt that SSM experience was enriching and 80%–90% felt SSM experience was pleasant. In both groups 47%–50% respondents believed, SSM experience contributed their high level of interest on research. The most influencing factors on their level of interest were supervisor guidance as reported by73%–80% respondents. It was said that SSM supervisor was academically stimulating, impressive as role model and supportive. The most confidence skill was the ability to function within a group and least confidence skill was manuscript writing.
Conclusion: Undergraduate SSM research showed positive impact on participants’ research activities. More in-depth analysis should be considered especially on manuscript writing as the students were least confident in this skill.
BACKGROUND: In order to provide a better healthcare education to the society, health care students should have an acceptable electronic health (E-Health) literacy.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the level of E-Health literacy of Medicine and Health Sciences university students in Mashhad, Iran.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on 192 students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences using a validated Persian translate of the E-Health literacy scale (P-EHEALS) questionnaire in 2016. Demographic data including age, monthly income, level of education, preference of website for obtaining health related information and minutes of Internet use per day were obtained from the subjects. Independent-samples t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for comparison between groups, and Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression were used to assess the correlation between study parameters and EHEALS score using SPSS version 21.
RESULTS: A total of 192 (67.2% female and 32.8% male) subjects with mean age of 24.71±5.30 years participated in the study. Mean P-EHEALS score of the subjects was 28.21±6.95. There was a significant difference in P-EHEALS score between genders (p<0.001), department (p=0.001), education level (p<0.001) and health status (p=0.003) as well as monthly income (p=0.03), website preference categories (p=0.02). Male students were significantly more likely to gain higher P-EHEALS scores.
CONCLUSION: The level of E-Health literacy was low in Medical and Health Sciences university students in Mashhad. More studies are needed to assess the contributors to E-Health literacy.
Renal angiomyolipoma, once considered a rare benign renal tumour, is relatively common these days. They account for 0.3-3.0% of all renal masses. Histologically, it is composed of adipose tissue, smooth muscles and blood vessels. Here, we wish to highlight five cases of renal angiomyolipomas which were presented to the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, over a two-year period between June 2005 and June 2007. This study wish to illustrate its varied clinical presentation and the management undertaken for each underlying condition. These cases were presented in the form of spontaneous perirenal haemorrhage, a large asymptomatic renal mass, a small asymptomatic renal mass, a symptomatic renal angiomyolipoma and a case of renal angiomyolipoma mimicking a renal tumour. Each of these cases varied in its clinical presentation; thus, management has become very challenging to clinicians ranging from conservative management to active intervention, be it operatively or non-operatively.
This study aims to identify the perception of third year physiotherapy students on the teaching and learning during clinical placements. A sample of 154 third year undergraduate and diploma students from the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, the Universiti Teknologi Mara and the Kolej Sains Kesihatan Bersekutu completed the questionnaire. High internal reliability of teaching and learning activities scale in the questionnaire was determined using Cronbach alpha (α = 0.94). Findings showed significant differences (p < 0.05) of perception among students in the clinical block between different levels of education, the ideal number of students in a group during clinical teaching session, and in the activity of ‘patient-centered activities,’ as well as 'feedback to the student.’ These findings demonstrated that the level of education does influence the students’ perceptions on their teaching and learning during clinical placements. In conclusion, the level of education is a contributory factor that influences the students’ rate of learning in clinical education.
Keywords: Clinical education, physiotherapy students, perception, undergraduate, diploma
Summary of Paper: This study aimed to assess the knowledge on basic sciences and clinical psychiatry (psychopathology and clinical syndromes) of the part I candidates on the mock MCQ paper. Methodology and results: The study is a descriptive and cross-sectional study and was carried out in a group of postgraduate students in psychiatry from Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya (UM) attending a series of revision course organized by the Department of Psychiatry, UKM. Revision course in psychiatry is an annual intensive course organized by the Department of Psychiatry, UKM to help young candidates preparing postgraduate psychiatry examination to refresh and consolidate their knowledge on basic sciences and clinical psychiatry. Candidates from various universities sitting for part 1 exam and completed their lectures and training in area of basic sciences are invited to attend this course which is held in The Department of Psychiatry, Hospital UKM.
Present work shows the development of nuclear technology in Malaysia and highlights its
applications that have been developed by using the instrumental neutron activation analysis
(INAA) method. In addition, present study exhibits a comprehensive review of INAA for
calculation of neutron flux parameters and concentration of elements. The INAA is a
powerful method to analyse the sample which identifies qualitative and quantitative of
elements present in a sample. The INAA is a working instrument with advantages of
experimental simplicity, high accuracy, excellent flexibility with respect to irradiation and
counting conditions, and suitability for computerization. In INAA, sample is irradiated and
measured directly. In practical. INAA is based on an absolute, relative and single-comparator
standardisation method. The INAA has been developed since 1982 when the
TRIGA Mark II reactor of Malaysia has commissioned. The absolute method was less
utilised, the relative method has been used since 1982, and the ko-INAA method is derived
from single-comparator standardization method has been developed since 1996 in Malaysia.
The relative method, because of its advantages, such as high accuracy, easy for using, has
many applications in Malaysia. Currently, local universities and Malaysian Nuclear Agency
(MNA) research reactor use INAA method in Malaysia.
Background: A randomised clinical trial was carried out to study the cost-effectiveness of continuous venovenous hemofiltration using high volume and standard volume.
Methods: Study was done through interviews involving patients or their relatives and document review on patients’ treatment and progress note during the hemofiltration therapy in the Intensive Care Unit, Hospital University Kebangsaan Malaysia. Study also involved secondary data analysis and a structured questionnaire survey to assess the treatment and medical cost incurred by the hospital during the continuous venovenous hemofiltration therapy.
Results: The result of this study showed that the continuous venovenous hemofiltration given at high volume 4-6 litres/hour is more cost effective than standard volume of 2 litres/hour. The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score reduction in the high volume hemofiltration is 3.0 units over 24 hours. This reduction is higher than the standard volume hemofiltration which is only 0.5 unit over 24 hours.
Conclusions: High volume hemofiltration is more cost effective than standard volume therapy, where only RM 5,552 compared to RM 23,512 is needed for every one unit of SOFA score reduction respectively.
The International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur (IMU) has just completed 20 years of success and had a series of events to celebrate its 20th anniversary as well as its achievements in 2012. As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations, IMU successfully co-hosted the Ottawa conference with the European Medical Education Association in Kuala Lumpur. This was the first time this conference was hosted in Asia and it was one of the biggest and most successful of the Ottawa Conference series ever held. This conference focuses on medical education with the major emphasis on assessment.
The purpose of the present study is to provide a critical review on the revolution of the "compliance" concepts from compliance to adherence, and adherence to concordance for both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies. A comprehensive literature search was performed using online databases from Library of University Putra Malaysia, and Pub Med based on the keywords. The present study showed that both quantitative and qualitative studies cannot be neglected in assessing adherence and its related problems. One of major findings from the present review is that "compliance" was no longer suitable for current treatments and it is important to define concepts of the terms used (adherence or concordance) correctly and clearly. The findings reflected that researchers placed greater value on medication adherence than non-pharmacological adherence. There were three general factors related to treatments adherence, namely socio-economic factor, treatments-related factor and disease-related factor. The findings showed that both qualitative and quantitative studies found consistent results for most of the factors, except for the experience of diseases symptoms. Both study design contribute important values to the adherence studies and future studies should incorporate both quantitative and qualitative studies to understand adherence in both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments.
The present study reports the performance of final year medical students from the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) in the end of the senior surgical posting examination (SSP) with the aim to demonstrate the medical students graduating from this newly established university are of good standing and of improving quality. A study on the outcome of the method of teaching conducted on this study was performed by measuring the students’ performance continuously and at the end of their posting. The present data analyses demonstrate that there have been improvements in the medical students’ performance between the last two batches of students graduating from UMS. However, the students appear to be weaker in their MCQs, demonstrating a decline in theoretical knowledge. The analyses also demonstrate that there is a poor positive correlation between theoretical knowledge, clinical skills and/or continuous assessments, demonstrating the importance of emphasis in these 3 areas amongst medical students. Further studies may be required to determine the reason for this poor correlation since these may lead to better understanding on how to improve the overall performance of future medical student. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrates that UMS medical student appears to continue to improve in their SSP performance although there are concerns about the decline in theoretical knowledge.
Learning environment in the universities plays an important role in producing highly competent graduates especially in nursing profession. Thus, the most important as-pects are the teaching activities and as well as student – teacher interaction in daily environment in the university. To investigate the International Islamic University Malay-
sia (IIUM) nursing students experience towards their teachers and to identify the rela-tionship between teaching and students learning perception in their learning environ-ment. This study used quantitative method and utilized two out of five subscales in Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measurement (DREEM). The subscales used
were students’ perception of learning (SPoL) , students’ perception of teacher (SPoT)
and total items in these both subscales are 12 and 11 items, respectively. The ques-tionnaire results revealed that IIUM nursing students scored 28.54/48.00 in (SPoL) and
28.13/44.00 in (SPoT). Both findings showed the IIUM nursing students’ experience their teachers and the learning environment are moving in towards positive directions. The regression finding was 51% of the total variation in students’ perception of teacher score was explained by students’ perception of learning. Although the overall sub-scales (SPoL) score in the current study falls in the category of a more positive per-ception, 2 out of 12 items were poorly scored by the IIUM nursing students. The re-searcher strongly agrees that listening to the expression of students is an important consideration for an educational institution. The overall mean score for (SPoT) showed that the students perceived their teachers as moving in the right direction. In this pre-sent IIUM study, one item showed a mean score of less then 2.00. As a result, these two subscales most probably should reflect the same outcome such as in their aca-demic performance and experience greatly during their student life on campus. The arising issues from this DREEM study at IIUM embrace the need for the creation of supportive environment as well as designing and implementing interventions to remedy unsatisfactorily elements of the learning environment for more effective and successful teaching and learning to be realised.