Chinese medical students' disposition for critical thinking: a mixed methods exploration

Determining the core competencies for international postgraduate nursing students in internship programs: A delphi study

AIM

To determine the core competencies of clinical internships for international postgraduate nursing students undertaking a two-year professional program in China.

BACKGROUND

Clinical internship is an important part of nursing education and is the cornerstone for the future training of nursing professionals. However, in terms of providing a basis for the training and assessment of international postgraduate nursing students undertaking a two-year professional program in China, their core competencies of clinical internships have not yet been sufficiently determined.

METHODS

Focus group interviews and a two-round Delphi method were conducted. The preliminary list of core competencies was determined based on a scoping review and focus group interviews. Subsequently, experts provided suggestions for modifications to the core competencies in two rounds of the Delphi survey. The response rate (RR), composite reliability (Cr), coefficient of variation and Kendall coefficient of indices were calculated.

RESULTS

Twenty experts completed two rounds of Delphi expert consultation and reached consensus on five first-level indices and 13 s-level indices with 27 connotations. The RR values for the two rounds of consultation were 100 %, the Cr values were 0.853 and 0.873 and the Kendall coordination coefficients were 0.134-0.250 (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The core competencies identified in this research can provide a basis for further training international postgraduate nursing students undertaking a two-year professional program in China through internship programs. This research also provides a reference for effectively evaluating and improving clinical programs.

Medical students' reflective capacity and its role in their critical thinking disposition

BACKGROUND

Developing reflective capacity and critical thinking is one of the prerequisites of education in health professions, especially medicine. This study aimed to determine the reflective capacity of medical students and its role in their critical thinking disposition.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional descriptive research, conducted in 2022, a total of 240 medical intern students were selected using the convenient sampling method. Data were collected using a reflective capacity questionnaire and critical thinking disposition questionnaire and analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS20.

RESULTS

The mean reflective capacity was 4.53 ± 0.50, and mean critical thinking disposition was 127.52 ± 10.85. Among the dimensions of reflection, "active self-appraisal (SA)" and "reflective with others (RO)" had the highest and lowest means, respectively. The dimensions of critical thinking disposition with the highest and lowest means were related to innovation and intellectual maturity, respectively. Reflective capacity and its dimensions were found to have a direct and statistically significant relationship with critical thinking disposition and its dimensions. Regression analysis results showed that reflective capacity accounts for 28% of students' critical thinking disposition.

CONCLUSION

The relationship between students' reflective capacity and their critical thinking disposition has rendered reflection as one of the necessary components of medical education. Thus, determining the learning activities by considering the reflection process and models will be very effective in creating and strengthening critical thinking disposition.

Comparison of Critical Thinking among undergraduate medical students of Conventional and Integrated curricula in Twin Cities

Objectives

To compare critical thinking of undergraduate medical students of institutes following traditional and integrated curriculum at Twin cities.

Methods

The current cross-sectional study was conducted in medical colleges of Twin Cities from February 2021 till August 2021. Two medical colleges one with conventional and other with integrated mode of curriculum were included. One hundred medical students were selected by simple random sampling from each conventional and integrated medical college. Free critical thinking test tool was used for data collection. The tool was composed of five sections, Arguments, Assumptions, Deductions, Inferences and interpreting information. Data entry and analysis was done by using SPSS version 20. Chi-Square test of independence was run to determine the association of critical thinking with type of curriculum. Independent sample t-test was applied to find out the mean difference in the critical thinking of medical students following the two different curriculums.

Results

In current study 200 students were included. Majority were females (n= 155, 77.5%). The overall percentage of good critical thinking was found to be 49%. Majority of the students (n=57, 58.2%) having good critical thinking were found associated with integrated curriculum (p < 0.024, OR= 0.524, 95% CI= 0.3 - 0.92). There was statistically significant difference of critical thinking between institutes following two different curriculum strategies. Total critical thinking score was also found statistically significantly [MD= 5.00, 95% CI, (-1.05-8.96), p<0.013], more with integrated curriculum (133.48±15.6) as compared to conventional curriculum (128.47 ± 11.43).

Conclusion

Critical thinking was found high among the students with the integrated curriculum as compared to the conventional.