BMC Medical Education最新文献

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of health profession students regarding ChatGPT use and the potential impact of integrating ChatGPT in healthcare and education.

Background: Artificial Intelligence is increasingly utilized in medical education and clinical profession training. However, since its introduction, ChatGPT remains relatively unexplored in terms of health profession students' acceptance of its use in education and practice.

Design: This study employed a mixed-methods approach, using a web-based survey.

Methods: The study involved a convenience sample recruited through various methods, including Faculty of Medicine announcements, social media, and snowball sampling, during the second semester (March to June 2023). Data were collected using a structured questionnaire with closed-ended questions and three open-ended questions. The final sample comprised 217 undergraduate health profession students, including 73 (33.6%) nursing students, 65 (30.0%) medical students, and 79 (36.4%) occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech therapy students.

Results: Among the surveyed students, 86.2% were familiar with ChatGPT, with generally positive perceptions as reflected by a mean score of 4.04 (SD = 0.62) on a scale of 1 to 5. Positive feedback was particularly noted with respect to ChatGPT's role in information retrieval and summarization. The qualitative data revealed three main themes: experiences with ChatGPT, its impact on the quality of healthcare, and its integration into the curriculum. The findings highlight benefits such as serving as a convenient tool for accessing information, reducing human errors, and fostering innovative learning approaches. However, they also underscore areas of concern, including ethical considerations, challenges in fostering critical thinking, and issues related to verification. The absence of significant differences between the different fields of study indicates consistent perceptions across nursing, medicine, and other health profession students.

Conclusions: Our findings underscore the necessity for continuous refinement to enhance ChatGPT's accuracy, reliability, and alignment with the diverse educational needs of health professions. These insights not only deepen our understanding of student perceptions of ChatGPT in healthcare education but also have significant implications for the future integration of AI in health profession practice. The study emphasizes the importance of a careful balance between leveraging the benefits of AI tools and addressing ethical and pedagogical concerns.

Background: Self- medication leading to wastage of limited resources in developing countries, prolonged suffering, increase resistance to drugs and may result in significant medical complications such as adverse drug responses and dependence. Self-medication is extensively used by health professionals. Undergraduate medical students as being the future physicians representing a main pillar in health care system thus have special significance. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of self-medication and identify its pattern among medical students in Tanta university, Egypt.

Methods: A four-month cross-sectional study was carried out among Egyptian undergraduate medical students at Tanta University, from first to final year. (November 2023 - February 2024). The students were chosen using a two-stage cluster sampling method, and data on sociodemographic and self-medication patterns were collected using a predesigned semi-structured self-administered questionnaire.

Results: The prevalence of self-medication was 71%. The key determinants of self-medication was students' medical knowledge from self- experience and studies (55.9%). Headache was a common complaint for self-medication (80.4%). Majority of them (88.3%) use pharmaceutical products where analgesics lies on top (92.4%). The degree of popularity of the medicine was the primary reason for drug selection (52.5%) and recommendation of the pharmacist was the main determinate of selecting type of drug (43.6%). However, 30.2% experienced side effects, of which 50% went to private physician and 33.5% stopped taking their medications. Half of the students took antibiotics for self-medication.

Conclusions: Self-medication is a common practice among medical students. where headache was the common symptom and the most commonly utilized medications for self-medication were analgesics. There is a need to augment the value of diagnosis, awareness and seriousness of this practice.

Background: Mentorship and research experiences are crucial for STEMM career entry and advancement. However, systemic barriers have excluded people from historically underrepresented groups.

Methods: In 2021, a virtual "matchmaking event" was held to connect NIH-funded research mentors with historically underrepresented trainees and initiate mentored research experiences. Survey data collected over 12 months was analyzed to evaluate the program's success considering the number of mentor-trainee connections, mentor-trainee research experience matches, and NIH diversity supplement application status. Statistical tests, including student's t-test, ANCOVAs, and chi-square tests, evaluated differences between attendee groups and survey time points.

Results: Out of 314 mentors contacted and 99 registered trainees, 113 mentors and 92 trainees participated. Among mentors (n = 73), 53% identified as women, 56% as non-Hispanic white, and a majority (81%) reported being the first in their family to attend college. Among trainees (n = 79), about two-thirds (67%) identified as women, 47% identified as Hispanic/Latinx, and 15% identified as Black/African American. Both mentors and trainees were extremely satisfied with the overall event (57% and 69%, respectively) and would recommend it to others (74% and 90%, respectively). Most mentor participants established at least one mentor-trainee connection after the event (n = 64, 57%), a mentor-trainee research experience match (n = 40, 35%), and planned to submit an NIH diversity supplement (n = 31, 27%). Many trainees obtained paid positions through the mentor-trainee research experience. One year after the event, 11 trainees secured NIH diversity supplement funding with their mentors.

Conclusions: The matchmaking event began bridging a much-needed gap in the research pathway by creating opportunities for trainees to connect with mentors and obtain funded research opportunities.

Background: Feedback is an important part of learning, however, it often does not have the desired effect. Much work has been done exploring students' engagement with feedback and factors which may impact engagement. Mutual understanding of feedback and feedback practice on the part of the student and educator is essential.

Methods: This study explored the perceptions of feedback of final-year physiotherapy students at Stellenbosch University (South Africa). Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted to generate data. Cultural-historical activity theory was used as an analytic lens in the data analysis.

Results: Students understood feedback to be a continuous, bidirectional conversation in which they were actively involved. Students recognised their agency in feedback practice. Despite their understanding, their agency was often undermined by factors such as the environment, context and most notably the perceived positioning and relationships between students and educators. Educators who were perceived as credible and created a safe psychosocial space had a positive influence on the students' perception of feedback.

Conclusions: Students' perceptions of feedback and their engagement was the product of a complex and dynamic interplay of factors. While students recognise their agency, this may be hindered by relationships and the design of feedback in the curriculum. As educators, one must consider how we contribute to this and enable students to activate and use their agency in feedback practice.

Background: The use of an observer tool (OT) has been shown to improve learning of technical skills through observation in simulation. The objective was to assess the impact of a non-technical OT on anaesthesia residents' learning of non-technical skills (NTS) during simulation.

Methods: After consent, residents were randomised into 2 groups: OT+ (with an OT based on NTS to be systematically completed during observation of others) and OT- (without OT). Both groups observed a high-fidelity simulation of crisis management (with or without OT), then were asked to perform actively another simulation. The primary outcome was NTS performance, assessed by an evaluator using the Anaesthesia Non-Technical Skills score (ANTS score out of 16) on video recording. Secondary outcomes were results of score items, satisfaction, team performance, and professional impact.

Results: No significant difference was found between OT + group (n = 33) and OT- group (n = 30) for the ANTS score (OT + 12 [9.5-12.5], OT- 10.5 [8.75-12]/16 (p = 0.13)). Among sub-items of the ANTS score, decision-making was significantly better in the OT + group (3 [2-3] versus 2 [2-3], p = 0.01). Satisfaction, team performance and perception of professional impact were not significantly different between groups.

Conclusions: This study showed no significant difference in learning of observational anaesthesia resident's NTS whether or not they were provided a non-technical OT during crisis management simulation. Decision-making was better with an OT. Further work is necessary to define the place of OT in observer-based learning.

Background: Caring for dying patients is associated with psychological trauma, strong emotions and enormous stress for nursing staff and nursing students who are reliable health care providers in such difficult situations. Nursing students involved in End-of -life care need to work through these emotions during clinical placements. This study explored the lived experiences of nursing students caring for the dying patients at Mulago national referral hospital.

Methods: An explorative study was conducted using in-depth interviews among fifteen 3rd and 4th year undergraduate nursing students of Makerere University college of Health sciences. Data was audio recorded, verbatim transcribed and thematically analyzed using Atlas. ti version 6 software.

Findings: Two themes emerged from students' narratives of their emotional and psychological experiences while caring for dying patients; (1) Psychological and emotional reactions, (2) Coping mechanisms. The sub-themes under Psychological and emotional reactions were; feelings of anger, triggers of anxiety symptoms, triggers of sadness and guilt feelings. The sub themes under coping mechanisms were; peer to peer support through interacting with each other about the experiences, engagement in problem solving, distancing from patients, spirituality and engaging in personal stress reducing activities.

Conclusion: Nursing students experience various negative psychological and emotional reactions but devise different coping mechanisms to overcome them. There is need for development of clear guidelines on orientation of nursing students caring for dying patients, emphasis on building their emotional intelligence and more research on effectiveness of end of life educational interventions to mitigate the anticipated negative psychological and emotional reactions.

Background: Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) has become integral to emergency medicine (EM) as a critical diagnostic support tool. In Finland, where EM was formally recognised as a specialty as recently as in 2013, a historical lack of systematic training for POCUS has existed. Such training has largely depended on individual initiative rather than a standardised program while many other areas of EM training have already seen the introduction of structured education. The aim of this study is to identify key factors and barriers influencing POCUS training, with the goal of improving its quality and delivery.

Methods: A nationwide survey was conducted among emergency physicians, trainees, and specialists across Finnish emergency departments from late 2020 to early 2021. The survey included detailed questions on POCUS training, perceived barriers to training, experiences of the successful initiation of more structured approaches, as well as attitudes towards the integration of POCUS into clinical practice. Statistical methods for quantitative data and thematic analysis for qualitative data were used.

Results: A total of 134 emergency physicians completed the survey, revealing a strong consensus among participants for several training needs. Key barriers identified include inadequate training, limited supervision, device availability, and time allocation. Notably, out of all open-ended questions, 96.5% of respondents called for the initiation of structured training programs that accommodate both foundational and advanced practitioner needs. Furthermore, hands-on training and senior support were highly valued.

Conclusions: The results highlight a need for reform in POCUS training in Finland, demonstrating a need for structured, competency-based educational frameworks that align with international standards. Improvements on training infrastructure, including enhanced mentorship and increased access to ultrasound equipment, are essential enablers of such a reform.

Clinical trial registration: Not applicable.

Introduction: Volunteers are an integral part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent (RCRC) Movement, with over 16 million people actively contributing to humanitarian action worldwide. Academic volunteerism within the Movement includes contributions from students, volunteers and professionals from academic institutions who offer their time and expertise. In this study we aimed to understand the process of embedding academic volunteers in humanitarian organizations such as the Canadian Red Cross (CRC) and assess the impact of their activities within the realm of public health education.

Methods: We used a qualitative case study design with an instrumental approach. All documents related to academic volunteers within the CRC database from September 2018 to August 2023 were gathered and reviewed. Data related to the processes around engaging with volunteers, timelines, outcomes and feedback surveys from students and staff members were extracted and a content analysis was conducted. A return-on-investment analysis (ROI) was conducted to assess the financial impact of engaging academic volunteers.

Results: A total of 68 academic volunteers were engaged with CRC, including unpaid or partially paid master's students, doctoral and postdoctoral fellows, and student volunteers. The collaboration between CRC and academic volunteers contributed to educational enrichment, professional development, knowledge transfer, operational efficiency, and talent pool expansion. Results from a survey on academic volunteerism further highlighted benefits such as maintaining project schedules, promoting diversity, and amplifying the Movement's voice on important matters. The return on investment for unpaid academic volunteers and Masters students was 70%. A five-fold increase was measured for partially paid academic volunteers resulting in 486% ROI.

Discussion: Academic volunteerism yields mutual benefits for students, academic researchers, and humanitarian organizations. These volunteers enhance operational efficiency and fortify resilience, fostering adaptability amid challenges. They play a crucial role in strengthening evidence-based programming within organizations like CRC and bolstering their capacity to address emerging health issues. These volunteers constitute a valuable talent pool, bringing organizational knowledge and experience to the table. They provide critical support for scaling up programs, especially during emergency situations, offering innovative solutions to address human resource shortages driven by funding constraints.

Background: Innovative behaviours are important for nursing postgraduates who are a significant reserve for future nursing career, thinking critically, utilizing technologies and solving complex problems. In nursing undergraduates' education, innovative behaviour is closely linked with the development of professional identity. However, there are limited studies exploring innovative behaviours, influencing factors and educational requirements of nursing postgraduates.

Aim: To investigate nursing postgraduates' innovative behaviour, influencing factors, and the correlation between innovative behaviour and professional identity. Moreover, exploring nursing postgraduates' requirements for innovational education.

Methods: A national descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among postgraduate students in Chinese nursing schools between October and November 2022. A general information questionnaire, The Nurses' Innovative Behaviour Scale, the Professional Identity Questionnaire for Nurse Student, and a multiple-choice question about students' innovation education requirements were collected. The independent-sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), multiple linear regression, and Pearson's correlation analyses were conducted.

Results: This study recruited 426 nursing postgraduates from 44 nursing schools across China. The mean score of innovative behaviour of nursing postgraduates was 38.96 ± 4.90 (min-max 10-50). Nursing postgraduates' professional identity was positively correlated with innovative behaviour (r = 0.436, P < 0.01). Participants who read scientific literature frequently, had a high level of professional identity, and grew up in urban areas had high levels of innovative behaviour (adjusted R² = 0.244, P < 0.001).

Conclusions: It was determined that the level of innovative behaviour is associated with their professional identity and the frequence of reading scientific literature in nursing postgraduates. It is imperative for educators to foster an environment that encourages postgraduate nursing students to engage with a wider array of scholarly literature and elevates postgraduate nursing students' professional identity. Furthermore, the dissemination of advanced knowledge and the adoption of diverse pedagogical approaches are likely to meet the innovative demands of nursing postgraduates.

Background: As precision medicine gains momentum, the traditional - One Size Fits All - approach to disease prevention and treatment is becoming less reliable. Medical education must prioritize equipping physicians with the knowledge to apply precision medicine effectively. The present study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and perceived barriers to precision medicine among medical students, interns, and physicians in Jordan.

Materials and methods: An analytical cross-sectional study, using an online validated and reliable questionnaire to collect data, was conducted. The knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions related to precision medicine were assessed and explored for statistical associations. The strength of each association was further presented by calculating the Cramér's phi (φc).

Results: Participants in the present study were 607 individuals, 55.5% were males. 29.6% of participants had low knowledge scores (marks between - 12 and 0). The strongest association was reported between knowledge score and primary care setting followed by age (φc = 0.27 and 0.29, respectively). Physicians at the Ministry of Health had the highest odds of a high knowledge score (OR = 5.3, 95% CI 2.7-10.2, P < 0.001). Most respondents (79.1%) would consider using genome-guided prescribing tools developed by researchers, with only (15.8%) deeming these tools clinically useless. Nevertheless, almost 78% of participants expressed concern regarding patient anxiety with test results. Students showed better perception than physicians (p = < 0.001), but Physicians were more confident to implement precision medicine (P = < 0.0001). Most participants (87.1%) considered expanding their knowledge in precision medicine. Physicians cited limited accessibility as the main barrier to adopt precision medicine (92.9%), while high cost was the primary obstacle reported by students (80.2%).

Conclusion: Medical students and Physicians share a positive attitude toward implementing Precision Medicine, but barriers must be overcome for successful implementation. Integrating precision medicine and genome-based technologies into medical education is necessary for its successful application in clinical practice.