Students' Perception of Educational Environment of Medical Colleges in Bangladesh

Students’ Perception of the Educational Environment at Hawler College of Medicine, Erbil, Iraq

BACKGROUND: Medical education and training vary considerably across the world. Various teaching methodologies have been adopted in medical education. AIM: This study aimed to elicit the perception of medical students at Hawler College of Medicine about their educational environment. METHODS: The study participants included all 152 students in their final year of study at Hawler College of Medicine, Erbil, Iraq. An anonymous questionnaire containing 27 items about the quality of their education, preparedness for residency, students’ affairs, and behaviors experienced or witnessed during medical school with a five-point Likert scale was used for data collection. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences program was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of 140 students participated in the study, 73 (52.1%) said that the final year was helpful in their preparation for residency, 67 (47.8%) were satisfied with the quality of their education, and 65 (46.4%) said that basic science coursework had sufficient illustrations of clinical relevance. Overall the students mostly were dissatisfied with the relaxation spaces, study space, health services, and response to their problems. Fifty-six (40%) were frequently publicly embarrassed, 45 (32.1%) believed that they received lower evaluations or grades solely based on gender rather than performance, and 27 (19.1%) were denied opportunities for training or rewards based on gender. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the students were satisfied with their education but unsatisfied with study space, relaxation space, and health services in the college.

Undergraduate Medical Student’s Perception About the Academic Learning Environment in Medical Colleges of North India: A Multicentric Study

Aim: To improve the learning environment of medical institutions, this study was conducted to estimate the undergraduate medical student’s perception of the academic learning environment at their institutions. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, analytical, survey-based, multi-centric study among undergraduate medical students from three different medical colleges in Western Uttar Pradesh, India. The data was collected with an online survey including socio-demographic questions and the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure Inventory. Results: A total of 283 medical students participated. The total Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure Inventory score was 125.22, whereas in 5 domains of the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure Inventory were students’ perception of learning with a score of 29.18, students’ perception of teachers with a score of 27.18, students’ academic self-perception with a score of 19.11, students’ perception of atmosphere with a score of 30.25, and students’ social self-perception with a score of 18.87 respectively. Conclusion: The mean total Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure Inventory score was 125.22 indicative of "a more positive than negative perception". This indicates there is potential scope for excellence in the learning environment by medical institutions through regular evaluation and corrections. Keywords: medical education, medical students, learning, environment, inventories

Perception Study of Traditional Korean Medical Students on the Medical Education Using the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure

Background. In Korea, a few studies regarding traditional Korean medicine (TKM) education have been conducted. The aim of this study is to evaluate students' perceptions regarding TKM education in Korea and compare them with those of other countries using a quantitative scale, Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM). Materials and Methods. We conducted a survey using DREEM in a TKM college. Totally, 325 students responded to this survey and we performed the descriptive statistics of scores in all items, subscales, and total. Additionally, subgroup comparisons according to gender, school year, and academic achievement were analyzed. Results. Mean overall DREEM score was 94.65 out of 200, which is relatively low compared to previous studies. Particularly, perceptions regarding subscales of learning, atmosphere, and self-perceptions were interpreted as problematic. There was no statistically significant difference between genders in spite of some differences among groups based on school year or academic achievement. Conclusions. We could examine students' perceptions regarding TKM education at a TKM college using DREEM for which validity and reliability were verified. TKM education was perceived relatively poor, but these quantitative indicators suggested which parts of education need improvement. We expect DREEM to be used widely in TKM or traditional medical education field.