ISQUA16-3009UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS AND SATISFACTION WITH THE QUALITY OF THE INTEGRATED MEDICAL CURRICULUM

Abstract

Objectives: The College of Medicine in the University of Dammam has implemented an innovative integrated undergraduate medical curriculum since 2014 in order to reform the quality of undergraduate medical education, to achieve Saudi-NCAAA accreditation for the college of medicine and to support quality improvement in Saudi Healthcare system. Like any innovative curriculum it needs to be evaluated for proper implementation. The main objective of this study is to evaluate student perceptions and satisfaction with the quality of the integrated medical curriculum. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted during December 2015 among the two cohorts of medical students studying the integrated medical curriculum in the college of medicine. A sample of 409 medical students was interviewed. A survey questionnaire for course quality evaluation was developed and pretested. In total 35, student perception and satisfaction items were included. Each scale item was measured with a 5-point Likert-type scale. Data was analyzed using SPSS. Cronbach's alpha coefficient (minimum recommended value 0.7) was used to measure scale reliability. Pearson Chi-Square test was used to measure statistical significant associations and a significant p-value cut-off point was set at < 0.05. Results: Student participation in this study was 87%. Cronbach's alpha coefficient 0.88 for 35 quality perception and satisfaction scale items infers the fact the scale items are internally consistent and reliable. Gender distributions among students are 48.9% male and 51.1% female. Among the 409 students, 44.3% were from first cohort and 55.7% were from second cohort. A majority of students revealed positive perceptions on various components of course quality except on the timely feedbacks to them about their continuous assessments during the course, which had very high negative student perceptions (82.2%). Student satisfaction with their overall course quality evaluation was 77.3% as compared to 22.7% who were dissatisfied. Student satisfaction with the quality of Problem Based Learning (PBL) was very high 92.5% as compared to 7.5% student who were dissatisfied. With early clinical exposure the student satisfaction with clinical skill sessions was 87.3% as compared to 12.7% dissatisfied. While 66.5% students were satisfied with various assignments throughout the course, 33.5% students were dissatisfied with them. Student satisfaction with active participation with and cooperation among themselves during the course was 88.3% and 87.3%. Student satisfaction with the quality of individual departments such as immunology, microbiology, PBL, biochemistry and clinical skills was high. However, disciplines such as pharmacology; weekly-review-&-quiz; health knowledge and society; health promotion and knowledge management; student seminar and student project cases (SPC) induced higher level of dissatisfactions among students. PBL and clinical skills are found to be significantly (p < 0.05) associated with overall course satisfaction. Conclusion: Positive student perceptions of and higher overall satisfaction with the quality of the integrated medical curriculum in the University of Dammam did not rule out the student dissatisfactions with the quality of various individual discipline and components in the curriculum. Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) in all the aspects of curriculum implementation is necessary to support the overall quality improvement of the integrated curriculum. Further research is recommended to explore the expectations of both students and faculty from the integrated medical curriculum. Also to compare their expectations with their perception and satisfaction, in turn to possibly to discover quality gaps with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of medical education in Saudi Arabia.