Horizontal Integration in Basic Sciences in Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Medical Students’ Viewpoint

Background: Integrated curriculum is a strategy in educational planning. Recently, this strategy has been introduced to medical universities in Iran. The strategy is running at a different level in some of the universities including Kerman University of Medical Sciences (KUMS). In this study,student...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Habibeh Ahmadipour, Farideh Hajmohammadi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences 2016-12-01
Series:Research and Development in Medical Education
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.tbzmed.ac.ir/RDME/Manuscript/RDME-5-93.pdf
Description
Summary:Background: Integrated curriculum is a strategy in educational planning. Recently, this strategy has been introduced to medical universities in Iran. The strategy is running at a different level in some of the universities including Kerman University of Medical Sciences (KUMS). In this study,students’ viewpoints toward the horizontal integration of basic sciences were assessed. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 144 fourth- and fifth-year medical students at KUMS. They were selected using the census method. Data was collected using a questionnaire that contained demographic data, 26 questions about different aspects of the horizontal integration program in basic sciences and 2 questions about students’ satisfaction with the program. The range of viewpoint and satisfaction scores were 0 to 104 and 0 to 10,respectively. Data was analyzed by SPSS 19. Results: The majority of participants 83 (57.6%) were female. The means of their viewpoint and satisfaction scores were 58.44 ± 10.61 and 5.48 ± 2.11, respectively. These scores had no statistically significant difference according to age, gender, entrance year and grade point average (GPA) (P > 0.05). Only students’ satisfaction score had a significant direct correlation with GPA (r= 0.3, P = 0.006). Conclusion: Although our study revealed a positive viewpoint toward the new educational method, this reaction is the first step of evaluation and the next stages of evaluation must be conducted to determine existing problems.
ISSN:2322-2719