Survey of self-assessed preparedness for clinical practice in one Croatian medical school

Background The Croatian higher education system is in the process of reforming its medical curricula to comply with European Union standards. We conducted a survey of students enrolled at the University of Zagreb (Croatia) asking them to rate their perception of preparedness for clinical practice prior to initiation of the reform process. The purpose of the survey was to identify self-perceived deficiencies in education and to establish a reference point for the later assessment of ongoing educational reform. Findings One-hundred and forty seven (N = 147) graduates reported the levels of perceived preparedness on 30 items grouped into 8 educational domains. Main domains were: understanding science, practical skills/patient management, holistic care, prevention, interpersonal skills, confidence/coping skills, collaboration, and self-directed learning. For each item, graduates self assessed their preparedness on a scale ranging from 1 to 4, with 1 = "Very inadequate", 2 = "Somewhat inadequate", 3 = "Somewhat adequate", and 4 = "Very adequate". In 7 out of 8 domains the achieved median score was ≥ 3. Students expressed low confidence (defined when ≥ 25% of respondents supplied a rating for the survey question as: "very inadequate" or "somewhat inadequate") with interpersonal skills (discussing terminal disease, counseling distraught patients, balancing professional and personal life), and in performing certain basic semi-invasive or invasive procedures. Conclusion Zagreb medical graduates identified several deficiencies within educational domains required for standard clinical practice. Ongoing educational efforts need to be directed towards the correction of these deficiencies in order to achieve standards required by the European Union..

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2009

Erschienen:

2009

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:2

Enthalten in:

BMC Research Notes - 2(2009), 1 vom: 27. Juli

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Bojanić, Katarina [VerfasserIn]
Schears, Gregory J [VerfasserIn]
Schroeder, Darrell R [VerfasserIn]
Jenkins, Sarah M [VerfasserIn]
Warner, David O [VerfasserIn]
Sprung, Juraj [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext [kostenfrei]

Themen:

Clinical Skill
Holistic Care
Interpersonal Skill
Junior Doctor
Urinary Catheter

Anmerkungen:

© Sprung et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2009

doi:

10.1186/1756-0500-2-152

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

SPR030268052