Barriers of physician-patient relationships in professionalism: A qualitative study

Introduction: Undoubtedly, there are several obstacles in the path of medical professionalism. This study examines these obstacles in the relationship between physician and patient. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore the barriers of physician-patient relationships in professionalism based on physician experiences.Methods: It was a qualitative study with a conventional content analysis approach. Our participants were 14 patients and 11 physicians. The sampling method was purposive, and data was collected through semi-structured interviews and field notes. Interviews continued until data saturation.Results: Findings of the study regarding barriers of patientphysician relationship were classified into five main categories:misperception of the physician’s identity, unprofessional behavior of the physician, physician’s sense of self-superiority, patients’ cultural differences, and lack of supportive services in the health care system.Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the communication challenges between physician and patient werenot limited to the physicians’ education. Part of these challenges depends on the patients and their culture. Another part of these challenges is directly related to the medical and management system structure

Comparison of the Effect of Teaching Methods of Flipped Class and TBL in Enhancing Psychological Empowerment

Introduction: Today, it is felt as necessary to promote the psychological empowerment of individuals, especially at thepostgraduate level using an appropriate educational approach. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of flipped class (FC) and team-based learning (TBL) in enhancing psychological empowerment.Methods: This semi-experimental study (pretest-posttest model) was conducted on postgraduate students in the Facultyof Medicine. Ninety students were included in the study using census method. After applying the inclusion and exclusioncriteria, forty students were divided into two groups of 20 in a non-random way according to their gender and educational level. The workshop teacher randomly selected one of the groups as a TBL and the other as an FC. A two-day workshop was held for each group (12 hours of training in total). The educational method was TBL in one group and FC in another. Spritzer’s Psychological Empowerment questionnaire was used for data collection in preand post-test (one month apart). This questionnaire includes 12 questions (based on a five-point Likert scale) to assess the 4 aspects of job meaningfulness, feeling to be qualified, feeling to be effective, and feeling to have the freedom of choice. The minimum and maximum scores are 12 and 60, respectively. The experts of the field have confirmed its reliability. Its Cronbach-Alpha values were reported in previous studies at 0.86 and 0.89, respectively. Data were analyzed using statistical tests in SPSS16 and Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney non-parametric tests.Results: The Mann-Whitney U-test indicated no significant difference between the total mean of the two groups (FC: 35.20±1.73, TBL: 34.30±1.26) in the pre-test (P=0.157). However, there was a significant difference between the psychological empowerment scores of the two groups in the post-test (P0.001).Conclusion: Due to the influence of the TBL technique on psychological empowerment at the postgraduate level, it seems that TBL is more useful and practical for enhancing psychological empowerment

A Comparative Study of Students' Academic Optimism and Hope, and Their Relationships with Academic Achievement

Background: It is critical to identify the factors affecting the academic success of students in the context of medical sciences. The research approaches in positive psychology have shown that the variables of hope and optimism play important roles in the academic achievement of college students. Objectives: The present study aimed to compare and evaluate the relationship between the academic achievement of medical and paramedical students with hope and optimism. Methods: A descriptive-correlative and cross-sectional research design was adopted in this study. The statistical population of the study consisted of all medical and paramedical students at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. A total of 350 students were selected based on Cochran's sampling formula, out of who 306 ones completed and returned the questionnaires. In order to collect the required data, two valid and reliable scales, including the Adult Hope Scale (AHS) and the Academic Optimism Questionnaire, were used. Moreover, descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to analyze the data by using SPSS 21V software. Results: The findings showed that students’ academic optimism (r = 0.16, P ≤ 0.01) and hope (r = 0.17, P ≤ 0.01) were positively and significantly associated with their academic achievement. The results also indicated that there was a considerable, positive correlation between student identification and their academic achievement (r = 0.197, P ≤ 0.01). Furthermore, a significantly positive relationship was detected between student hope dimensions in terms of agency thinking (r = -0.15, P ≤ 0.05), pathways thinking (r = -0.17, P ≤ 0.01), and academic achievement. The findings demonstrated that paramedical students were significantly more optimistic than medical students (P ≤ 0.01). Conclusions: It was concluded that hope and academic optimism may have increased and improved students’ academic performance and, consequently, had a positive impact on their success and achievement in universities

Data on the knowledge, attitude, and performance of Ph.D. students attending an educational course (Tehran, Iran)

The Department of Medical Education of Iran University of Medical Sciences organized a workshop on empowerment and familiarity with the teaching and learning principles. The data presented here is based on the effectiveness of this workshop. This data was acquired from 29 postgraduates who take part in a two-day educational course and instructional design workshop. The samples were selected by convenience sampling. Data collection tool was a questionnaire that consisted of 5 questions for demographic variables, 20 question about attitude and satisfaction, 30 questions on knowledge as pretest and posttest, and 3 questions about behavior and performance. The descriptive statistics of data were analyzed using SPSS-14. The mean score of pre-test and post-test in case of knowledge, attitude, and performance in teaching and instructional design were calculated. In addition, the viewpoints of educational departments on the third level of Kirkpatrick׳s model i.e. the students’ post-workshop behavior change (transferring learning to the workplace) were obtained. Keywords: Instructional design, Basic Medical Sciences students, Kirkpatrick׳s model, Knowledg

Startup-Based Learning as an Innovative Method for Pharmacy Education: Medicinal Plants Course Model

Background: Familiarizing students with knowledge-based businesses is one of the goals emphasized in the developed educational systems worldwide. This study aimed to design a startup-based learning model (SBL). Methods: As a qualitative research study, startup teams were formed by the pharmacy students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2020. This model was used to train 120 students as pharmaceutical entrepreneurs through related lectures, simulations, and field activities. We employed this model for students to become familiar with the various stages of examining market needs, knowledge-based company registration, intellectual property, logo design, and even pharmaceutical product development. Students' feedback was assessed with a questionnaire designed by the team of researchers, and its results were used to analyze the course and improve the quality of the proposed model. Results: Most of the studied indices revealed that the students rated this model as good or excellent. Satisfaction with more important indices includes student creativity and ideation in educational activity (60.7%), attractive presentation (60.4%), teamwork among learners (62.2%), appropriateness of evaluation method (65.4%), understanding how to make herbal remedies (49.1%), learner participation in the educational activity (74.8%), entrepreneurial motivation (60.7%), and applicability (64.4%). Conclusion: We found this model effective in boosting students' satisfaction, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit. Lecturers also play a facilitator role in addition to specialized training. Therefore, in this model, both lecturers and students can grow more and make education more attractive. This study, for the first time, demonstrated that SBL could be applied in education systems and make the students more interested in educational content and help them to prepare for the job market

The Effect of Teaching Cognitive Strategies on the Academic Achievement of Medical Students

Introduction: Students' academic achievement is one of the important indicators in assessing university education. It seems that the use of cognitive strategies plays an important role in making desired changes in learning and academic achievements. Therefore, in this research, the effect of teaching cognitive strategies on the academic achievement of medical students was studied. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on two groups of 50 medical students of Iran University of Medical Sciences, using a two-group pretest-posttest test method. In the experimental group, in addition to presenting the content of the course, cognitive strategies were presented and practiced for 20 minutes in 6 sessions. The data collection tool was an educational test (pre-test, post-test and final end-of-period test). The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (paired and independent t-test) and analyzed using SPSS20. Results: All students participated in the study. There was no significant difference between the scores of students in the two groups before the training of cognitive strategies (P=0.28). However, there was a significant difference between the scores of the two groups after the intervention and the training (P = 0.01).The average end-of-period test scores increased in both groups compared to the pre-test but this increase was higher in the experimental group than in the control group. Conclusion: Teaching cognitive strategies in university education is effective and it will promote the learning skills of learners and consequently their academic achievement. Therefore, considering it is recommended in educational planning.    Citation: Keshavarzi MH, Safari E, Shakarabi M, Kangrani Farahani AR, Taghavinia M, Zabihi Zazoly A. The Effect of Teaching Cognitive Strategies on the Academic Achievement of Medical Students. Journal of Development Strategies in Medical Education 2019;6(2):1-9

Comparison of serum leptin and thyroid hormones levels in obese and non-obese women

Background and Objective: Many factors are known to be involved in a number of human pathologies of obesity including serum leptin and thyroid hormones levels. The purpose of this study was to compare the serum levels of leptin and thyroid hormones in obese and non-obese women, in Shiraz-Iran during 2006. Materials and Methods: In this case- control study, 35 women with BMI≥30 Kg/m2 recruited as an obese group (Case group) and 35 women with healthy BMI (BMI<25 Kg/m2) were selected as a control group. General information data were gathered from each sample using questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. Body weight, height, waist and hip circumferences were measured and BMI, WHR and percent of body fat (%TBF) were calculated for each subject. Venous blood samples were drawn from subjects and serum was separated to determine the concentrations of serum leptin and thyroid hormones (T4, T3 and TSH) levels. Results: Mean serum concentration of leptin was significantly higher in obese group than control group (p<0.001). Serum leptin levels positively correlated to anthropometric indices (BMI, WHR, %TBF). No significant difference was observed between obese and non-obese groups in serum thyroid hormones concentration. Serum leptin levels positively related to serum T3 levels (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study indicated that obese women had higher leptin levels compared to non-obese. The interaction between thyroid hormone in particular T3 and leptin can be one of the reason for increasing the serum leptin level among obse women

Requirements for improving social capital among faculty members of medical universities: A multicenter qualitative study

Abstract Introduction Social capital is critical to organizational dynamics, particularly in developing countries. This study explored strategies for enhancing social capital among faculty members at seven medical universities in the south of Iran. Methods This qualitative study was conducted in 2021. We used a purposeful sampling technique to recruit faculty members and conducted individual semi‐structured interviews with them. Thematic analysis was used to analyze and describe the collected data. Results A total of 49 faculty members (34 males; 15 females) participated in this study. The participants expressed satisfaction with their affiliations with medical universities. Social capital was related to the feeling of belonging to the organization, as well as to interpersonal and intra‐organizational relations. Social capital was associated with three components: empowerment, organizational policy change, and organizational identification. Additionally, a dynamic relationship between the individual, interpersonal, and macro‐organizational levels reinforced the organization's social capital. This means that, just as the macro‐organizational level affects the members' identities, the members' activism affects the macro‐organizational level. Conclusion To strengthen the organization's social capital, managers should work on the mentioned components at the individual, interpersonal, and macro‐organizational levels