Beyond 'tomorrow's doctors': a review of basic medical education in the UK

Factors influencing health professions students' use of computers for data analysis at three Ugandan public medical schools: a cross-sectional survey

Background

Effective utilization of computers and their applications in medical education and research is of paramount importance to students. The objective of this study was to determine the association between owning a computer and use of computers for research data analysis and the other factors influencing health professions students’ computer use for data analysis.

Methods

We conducted a cross sectional study among undergraduate health professions students at three public universities in Uganda using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was composed of questions on participant demographics, students’ participation in research, computer ownership, and use of computers for data analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics (uni-variable and multi- level logistic regression analysis) were used to analyse data. The level of significance was set at 0.05.

Results

Six hundred (600) of 668 questionnaires were completed and returned (response rate 89.8%). A majority of respondents were male (68.8%) and 75.3% reported owning computers. Overall, 63.7% of respondents reported that they had ever done computer based data analysis. The following factors were significant predictors of having ever done computer based data analysis: ownership of a computer (adj. OR 1.80, p = 0.02), recently completed course in statistics (Adj. OR 1.48, p =0.04), and participation in research (Adj. OR 2.64, p <0.01).

Conclusions

Owning a computer, participation in research and undertaking courses in research methods influence undergraduate students’ use of computers for research data analysis. Students are increasingly participating in research, and thus need to have competencies for the successful conduct of research. Medical training institutions should encourage both curricular and extra-curricular efforts to enhance research capacity in line with the modern theories of adult learning.

The clinical electives year in undergraduate medical training in Switzerland: an overview

In Switzerland undergraduate medical training has undergone several reforms over the last decade which also affected the integration, the structure as well as the learning content of the so-called "Wahlstudienjahr" (clinical electives year). The first section of this paper gives a short overview of the current status of the clinical electives year in Switzerland. In the second section some descriptive data concerning the Faculty of Medicine in Zurich are summarized to exemplify current and future aspects of the quality development in the clinical electives year in Switzerland.

Quality assurance of medical education: a case study from Switzerland

In the light of ongoing changes and challenges in the European health systems which also have significant implications for undergraduate medical education, the present paper describes the accreditation of medical education programmes in Switzerland focussing on undergraduate medical education. A summary of the methodology used is provided and first experiences as well as future perspectives are discussed in the light of the aim to achieve continuous quality assurance and improvement in medical education.