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Characteristics of a Good Basic Science Teacher as Perceived by Medical Students
Author(s) -
Hussein Inaya Hajj,
Wunderlich Tracy,
Loftus Stephen,
Wedemeyer Rose
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.732.7
Subject(s) - medical education , likert scale , curriculum , perception , set (abstract data type) , medical science , psychology , interpersonal communication , scale (ratio) , mathematics education , medicine , computer science , pedagogy , social psychology , developmental psychology , physics , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , programming language
Background Medical curricula have changed focus to competencies acquired by the medical student and introduced new teaching strategies to reach the set objectives. The medical educator or basic science teacher is expected to develop accordingly and acquire basic characteristics and competencies to lead such a learning process. The question commonly asked: what are such characteristics? Aims The purpose of this study is to assess the characteristics of a basic science teacher as perceived by medical students at OUWB School of medicine. Methodology The study was conducted using a self‐administered anonymous electronic survey (Qualtrics) administered to first through fourth year medical students with a covering letter explaining the project and goals. Results Descriptive analysis of the survey data was conducted on 24 items and means were calculated based on Likert scale ratings of 1 – 5, where 1 is not at all important and 5 is extremely important. Analysis revealed that students were most likely to report content knowledge (4.85), professionalism (4.79), learner‐centeredness (4.76), and interpersonal skills (4.68) as the most important attributes for a biomedical sciences instructor to embody. Further, students felt that the least important attributes were when faculty used interactive teaching methods (3.9) and innovative teaching methods (3.2). Conclusion By learning more about medical students' perceptions of basic science and clinical instruction and about their perceptions of teacher effectiveness, we will be able to tailor the training at OUWB in order to more effectively integrate and make relevant clinical application to basic science. Results from this study may also lead to recommendations for best practices in medical education at other types of institutions.