Objectives: This study is aimed at determining the factors influencing the job satisfaction level among dentists. It is also aimed at evaluating how personal (age, gender) and professional (type, type of qualification, and year of practice) characteristics influence overall job satisfaction.
Methods: For data collection, a structured self-administered questionnaire was used, in which one part collected information on personal characteristics. At the same time, the other contained a questionnaire related to job satisfaction. The German validated version of the questionnaire had a 10-point Warr-Cook-Wall (WCW) scale developed by Warr et al. in 1979. Each item was rated on a 5-point Likert scale, with 5 representing excessive satisfaction and 1 representing extreme dissatisfaction.
Results: The results revealed that dentists in Saudi Arabia have a higher satisfaction level with "colleagues and fellow workers" (26.5%). The relation between the years of practice was highly significant. However, they were dissatisfied with their "income" (22.6%), and when compared with concerning age, gender, profession, and their practice years, this finding was highly significant.
Conclusion: A higher percentage of satisfaction was seen with the "fellow and colleague's workers" dimension. At the same time, "income" was the aspect with which the dentists showed extreme dissatisfaction.
METHODS: A draft set of EPA statements was developed based on the consensus of an expert panel. These were then mapped to the nationally determined minimum experience thresholds (clinical and procedural experiences/competencies) and aligned to task-based instructional strategy. The EPAs were validated to improve the relevance by using a criterion-based rubric.
RESULTS: An end-to-end process workflow led to the development of an EPA-based educational framework to bridge the gaps in the curriculum. The process identified a total of 41 EPAs and out of which, 10 EPAs were notated as core EPAs and will be subjected to structured workplace-based assessment complying to the national standards. The validation exercise rated core EPAs with an overall score matching close to the cut-off of 4.07 (Equal rubric).
CONCLUSION: The end-to-end process workflow provided the opportunity to elaborate a structured process for the development of EPAs for undergraduate dental education. As validation is a continuous process, feedback from implementation will inform the next steps.
METHODS: A survey was completed by 657 veterinary students and 244 clinical supervisors from 25 veterinary schools, from which rankings of the preparedness characteristics were derived. Significant rank differences were assessed using confidence intervals and permutation tests.
RESULTS: 'Honesty, integrity and dependability' was the most important characteristic according to both groups. The three characteristics with the largest rank differences were: students' awareness of their own and others' mental wellbeing and the importance of self-care; being willing to try new practical skills with support (students ranked both of these higher); and having a clinical reasoning framework for common problems (supervisors ranked higher).
LIMITATIONS: Using pooled data from many schools means that the results are not necessarily representative of the perspectives at any one institution.
CONCLUSION: There are both similarities and differences in the perspectives of students and supervisors regarding which characteristics are more important for WCT. This provides insights that can be used by educators, curriculum developers and admissions tutors to improve student preparedness for workplace learning.
METHOD: An explanatory mixed method research design was carried out on first year medical students at a private university in Malaysia. In Phase I, a survey was conducted to explore the effectiveness of jigsaw learning. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated using SPSS. In Phase II, a focus group interview was conducted to explore their in-depth experiences. Qualitative data were thematically analysed.
RESULTS: Fifty-seven students participated in the survey and seven students took part in the focus group interview. Quantitative data analysis showed a statistically significant improvement in the student's individual accountability, promotive interaction, positive interdependence, interpersonal skill, communication skill, teamwork skill, critical thinking and consensus building after jigsaw learning sessions. Qualitative data explained their experiences in-depth.
CONCLUSION: Jigsaw cooperative learning improves collaboration, communication, cooperation and critical thinking among the undergraduate medical students. Educators should use jigsaw learning methods to encourage effective collaboration and team working. Future studies should explore the effectiveness of the jigsaw cooperative learning technique in promoting interprofessional collaboration in the workplace.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study used data from an online cross-sectional survey that was conducted from 24 June to 24 July 2021 in the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia. Firefighters were approached using the saturation sampling technique. They received online surveys via email through the Director of State and follow-up reminders through the Assistant Director of State Operations. A total of two filter questionnaires were employed i.e. type and duration of service. Firefighters stating that they were volunteer/auxiliary firefighters or had been in service for 2 years or less were excluded. In this study, data from 6041 out of 8581 firefighters were included for further analysis. The survey utilised the validated staff satisfaction index (SSI) and the happy career (HC) scale for in-service firefighters. SSI was a dual-dimension index consisting of welfare and protection against hazards at work, with 16 subdimensions. The HC is a five multi-dimensional items scale. Then, we used multiple linear regression to obtain the coefficient of determination while adjusting for age groups, gender, marital status, job grade, years of service and region of service.
RESULTS: A total of 6041 eligible data points were analysed in the study. The mean (±SD) age was 38.70 (8.97) years, of which 95.9% were male. The firefighters were in service for a median of 14 years (Q1, Q3: 8, 21). The firefighter reported higher life satisfaction (mean [SD] = 78.30 [9.15]) than happiness at work (mean [SD] = 77.22 [0.20]). The mean happiness scores differed significantly between years of service groups (p<0.001), region of service (p<0.001), marital status (p=0.029) and grade (p<0.001). Firefighters' satisfaction contributed 42.7% of workplace happiness (βadj=1.096 [95% CI: 1.064, 1.128]; p<0.001) after adjusting for frontline, married, the central region of service and male gender as control variables.
CONCLUSION: Firefighter satisfaction had a large effect size on happiness at work (42.7%). However, the interpretation of this effect size should be done with caution because happiness at work is inseparable from other life dimensions such as stability in matrimonial relationships and finances, involvement in leisure and religious activities and being mentally healthy.