ISQUA17-2709MEDICAL STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF ACADEMIC STRESS AND SATISFACTION WITH THE REVISED CURRICULUM QUALITY AT IAU SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

Objectives: In 2014 the College of Medicine (COM) at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU) began implementing a revised, innovative, Problem Based Learning (PBL) centered undergraduate medical curriculum. Adoption of the revised curriculum (RC) is part of an effort to translate the College's mission statement into action, improve the quality of medical education and ultimately achieve program accreditation from the Saudi Education Evaluation Commission-Higher Education Sector (EEC-HES). The main objective of this study is to evaluate student perceptions of academic stress due to the adoption of modern educational methods and its impact on student satisfaction with the overall quality of the curriculum. Method(s): A cross-sectional survey was conducted in May 2016 among medical students who had completed two years of study under the RC. A sample of 195 students was interviewed. A pretested survey questionnaire was given to students as part of the course evaluation. A total of 58, stress 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 was used to measure scale reliability. Pearson Chi-Square test was used to measure statistically significant associations and a significant p-value cut-off point was set at < 0.05. Result(s): Cronbach's alpha coefficient 0.92 for 58 stress perception and curriculum quality satisfaction scale items infers high reliability. Gender distributions among students were 39.5% male and 60.5% female. While a majority of students revealed positive perceptions on RC quality, students' overall satisfaction with RC quality was 82.6% as compared to 17.4% who were dissatisfied. For assessment methods, the highest level of student dissatisfaction was reported with the Short Answer Question (SAQ) exam 56.4%, the weekly quiz 50.8%, Vertically Integrated Assessment (VIA) exam 36.9%, Extended Matching Question (EMQ) exam 31.8%, Assignments 31.7% and the Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) exam 24.1%. Even considering the higher level of student satisfaction (82%) with the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), 76.9 % of students felt the exam was very stressful for them. However 76.4% of the students said the OSCE was comparatively less stressful than MCQ exams. While studying the RC, a 10.3 % of students experienced concentration difficulties, 61% sleeplessness due to worry, 76.4% felt they were constantly under strain and 59.5% felt unusually depressed. Additionally 50.3 % of students felt a sense of lack of self-confidence and 56.9% thought they would fail the year. The SAQ assessment method was found to be significantly (p< 0.05) associated with unhappy and self-reported depressive feelings among students. Conclusion(s): Although students expressed a higher level of overall satisfaction with the quality of the RC, their dissatisfaction with the quality of specific individual disciplines and assessment methods, provides ample opportunity for Continuous Curriculum Quality Improvement (CCQI) which should not be ignored. Since academic related stress among students was found to be very high, and many reported feeling depressed, were afraid of failing exams, and losing self-esteem and confidence, urgent efforts should be made to address these issues. The IAU-COM should provide students appropriate academic counseling and establish a student mentoring system through student portfolio to support improved learning environments and promote more efficient and effective student learning.