1 research outputs found
Exploring factors affecting undergraduate medical studentsâ study strategies in the clinical years: a qualitative study
The aim of this study is to explore the effects of clinical supervision, and assessment characteristics on the study strategies used by undergraduate medical students during their clinical rotations. We conducted a qualitative phenomenological study at King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, College of Medicine, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during the period from November 2007 to December 2008. We conducted semi-structured focus groups interviews with students and conducted individual interviews with teachers and students to explore studentsâ and clinical teachersâ perceptions and interpretations of factors influencing studentsâ study strategies. Data collection was continued until saturation was reached. We used Atlas-ti Computer Software (Version 5.2) to analyse the data, apply the obtained themes to the whole dataset and rearrange the data according to the themes and sub-themes. Analysis of data from interviews with twenty-eight students and thirteen clinical supervisors yielded three major themes relating to factors affecting studentsâ study strategies: âclinical supervisors and supervisionâ, âstress and anxietyâ and âassessmentâ. The three themes we identified played a role in studentsâ adoption of different study strategies in the âcommunity of clinical practiceâ. It appeared that teachers played a key role, particularly as assessors, clinical supervisors and as a source of stress to students