Exploring UK medical school differences: the MedDifs study of selection, teaching, student and F1 perceptions, postgraduate outcomes and fitness to practise

BACKGROUND: Medical schools differ, particularly in their teaching, but it is unclear whether such differences matter, although influential claims are often made. The Medical School Differences (MedDifs) study brings together a wide range of measures of UK medical schools, including postgraduate performance, fitness to practise issues, specialty choice, preparedness, satisfaction, teaching styles, entry criteria and institutional factors. METHOD: Aggregated data were collected for 50 measures across 29 UK medical schools. Data include institutional history (e.g. rate of production of hospital and GP specialists in the past), curricular influences (e.g. PBL schools, spend per student, staff-student ratio), selection measures (e.g. entry grades), teaching and assessment (e.g. traditional vs PBL, specialty teaching, self-regulated learning), student satisfaction, Foundation selection scores, Foundation satisfaction, postgraduate examination performance and fitness to practise (postgraduate progression, GMC sanctions). Six specialties (General Practice, Psychiatry, Anaesthetics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Internal Medicine, Surgery) were examined in more detail. RESULTS: Medical school differences are stable across time (median alpha = 0.835). The 50 measures were highly correlated, 395 (32.2%) of 1225 correlations being significant with p < 0.05, and 201 (16.4%) reached a Tukey-adjusted criterion of p < 0.0025. Problem-based learning (PBL) schools differ on many measures, including lower performance on postgraduate assessments. While these are in part explained by lower entry grades, a surprising finding is that schools such as PBL schools which reported greater student satisfaction with feedback also showed lower performance at postgraduate examinations. More medical school teaching of psychiatry, surgery and anaesthetics did not result in more specialist trainees. Schools that taught more general practice did have more graduates entering GP training, but those graduates performed less well in MRCGP examinations, the negative correlation resulting from numbers of GP trainees and exam outcomes being affected both by non-traditional teaching and by greater historical production of GPs. Postgraduate exam outcomes were also higher in schools with more self-regulated learning, but lower in larger medical schools. A path model for 29 measures found a complex causal nexus, most measures causing or being caused by other measures. Postgraduate exam performance was influenced by earlier attainment, at entry to Foundation and entry to medical school (the so-called academic backbone), and by self-regulated learning. Foundation measures of satisfaction, including preparedness, had no subsequent influence on outcomes. Fitness to practise issues were more frequent in schools producing more male graduates and more GPs. CONCLUSIONS: Medical schools differ in large numbers of ways that are causally interconnected. Differences between schools in postgraduate examination performance, training problems and GMC sanctions have important implications for the quality of patient care and patient safety

The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey: an analysis of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in 25 UK medical schools relating to timing, duration, teaching formats, teaching content, and problem-based learning

BACKGROUND: What subjects UK medical schools teach, what ways they teach subjects, and how much they teach those subjects is unclear. Whether teaching differences matter is a separate, important question. This study provides a detailed picture of timetabled undergraduate teaching activity at 25 UK medical schools, particularly in relation to problem-based learning (PBL). METHOD: The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey used detailed timetables provided by 25 schools with standard 5-year courses. Timetabled teaching events were coded in terms of course year, duration, teaching format, and teaching content. Ten schools used PBL. Teaching times from timetables were validated against two other studies that had assessed GP teaching and lecture, seminar, and tutorial times. RESULTS: A total of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in the academic year 2014/2015 were analysed, including SSCs (student-selected components) and elective studies. A typical UK medical student receives 3960 timetabled hours of teaching during their 5-year course. There was a clear difference between the initial 2 years which mostly contained basic medical science content and the later 3 years which mostly consisted of clinical teaching, although some clinical teaching occurs in the first 2 years. Medical schools differed in duration, format, and content of teaching. Two main factors underlay most of the variation between schools, Traditional vs PBL teaching and Structured vs Unstructured teaching. A curriculum map comparing medical schools was constructed using those factors. PBL schools differed on a number of measures, having more PBL teaching time, fewer lectures, more GP teaching, less surgery, less formal teaching of basic science, and more sessions with unspecified content. DISCUSSION: UK medical schools differ in both format and content of teaching. PBL and non-PBL schools clearly differ, albeit with substantial variation within groups, and overlap in the middle. The important question of whether differences in teaching matter in terms of outcomes is analysed in a companion study (MedDifs) which examines how teaching differences relate to university infrastructure, entry requirements, student perceptions, and outcomes in Foundation Programme and postgraduate training

The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey: an analysis of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in 25 UK medical schools relating to timing, duration, teaching formats, teaching content, and problem-based learning

Background What subjects UK medical schools teach, what ways they teach subjects, and how much they teach those subjects is unclear. Whether teaching differences matter is a separate, important question. This study provides a detailed picture of timetabled undergraduate teaching activity at 25 UK medical schools, particularly in relation to problem-based learning (PBL). Method The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey used detailed timetables provided by 25 schools with standard 5-year courses. Timetabled teaching events were coded in terms of course year, duration, teaching format, and teaching content. Ten schools used PBL. Teaching times from timetables were validated against two other studies that had assessed GP teaching and lecture, seminar, and tutorial times. Results A total of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in the academic year 2014/2015 were analysed, including SSCs (student-selected components) and elective studies. A typical UK medical student receives 3960 timetabled hours of teaching during their 5-year course. There was a clear difference between the initial 2 years which mostly contained basic medical science content and the later 3 years which mostly consisted of clinical teaching, although some clinical teaching occurs in the first 2 years. Medical schools differed in duration, format, and content of teaching. Two main factors underlay most of the variation between schools, Traditional vs PBL teaching and Structured vs Unstructured teaching. A curriculum map comparing medical schools was constructed using those factors. PBL schools differed on a number of measures, having more PBL teaching time, fewer lectures, more GP teaching, less surgery, less formal teaching of basic science, and more sessions with unspecified content. Discussion UK medical schools differ in both format and content of teaching. PBL and non-PBL schools clearly differ, albeit with substantial variation within groups, and overlap in the middle. The important question of whether differences in teaching matter in terms of outcomes is analysed in a companion study (MedDifs) which examines how teaching differences relate to university infrastructure, entry requirements, student perceptions, and outcomes in Foundation Programme and postgraduate training

A cross-ethnic study of the attitude of married women in Nigeria towards female genital mutilation

No Abstract.African Journal for the psychological studies of social issue Vol. 10 (1&2) 2007: pp. 114-12

Efficacy of Self-Instructional Talk and Multicomponent Techniques in Reducing Occupational Stress among Teachers in Command Schools in Nigeria

There exists a substantial body of literature relating the ravaging tendency of occupational stress, therefore, the need to train teachers on effective stress management strategies. This study examined the efficacy of self-instructional talk (SIT) and multicomponent techniques (MCT) on occupational stress reduction of Command Secondary School teachers in the Nigerian Army. The study adopted a quasi-experimental approach using a 3x2 factorial design. The multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 120 teachers (60 males and 60 females) who participated in the study. The treatment groups were exposed to eight weeks of training sessions while the participants in the control were not exposed to any treatment, Teacher Stress Scale was used to collect data. Three hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Participants were post tested after eight weeks of treatment. Data were analysed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and Duncan Multiple Range Test. Findings revealed significant difference in the occupational stress reduction of participants in the treatment groups and those in the control group (F(2,119)=1.61; p&lt;.05). Multicomponent technique was found to be more effective for occupational stress reduction (F(1,79)=91.37; p&lt;.05). There was no interaction effect of gender on treatment as the males were constant in their stress reduction after treatment in the three groups. The study concludes that self-instructional talk and multicomponent techniques were effective in reducing stress of teachers in Command Secondary Schools. It is therefore recommended that counsellors should use the two therapies in helping teachers to manage stress at work

Factors Responsible for Students’ Involvement in Internet Fraud as Expressed by Tertiary Institution Students in Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria

Internet fraud is one of the most rapidly increasing forms of cybercrime. It has become rampant among students generally because they make use of different Internet devices in schools. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors responsible for students’ involvement in Internet fraud as expressed by tertiary institution students in Ilorin metropolis, Kwara State. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. Factors responsible for students’ involvement in Internet fraud questionnaire (FRSIFQ) was used to obtain relevant information for this study. The instrument was validated and the test re-test method was employed to determine the reliability and it yielded a co-efficient of 0.72. Multi-stage sampling procedures were used in selecting respondents for the study. Purposive, stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select three tertiary institutions and 315 respondents that participated in the study. Three null hypotheses were generated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The research questions were answered using mean ratings while t-test was used to test the hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that the major factors responsible for students’ involvement in Internet fraud were inadequate employment opportunities after school, peer pressure, economic challenges, and moral decadence, among other factors. The findings also showed that there is no significant difference in the factors responsible for students’ involvement in Internet fraud as expressed by tertiary institution students in Ilorin on the basis of gender, place of residence and family type. Based on the findings, the researchers recommended, among other things, that the government should provide worthwhile employment opportunities for students after school. The government of Nigeria should also improve the standard of living of the average citizen so as to overcome the economic challenges faced by the masses in general