Objectives The transition from preclinical to clinical training is characterized by several challenging experiences ranging from new roles, with their associated tasks, to unfamiliar settings. The aim of this study was to explore the difficulties faced by medical students during the transition from preclinical to clinical training in the Middle East region. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on fourth-year medical students at the end of their first clerkship. A self-administered questionnaire containing different aspects of students' perceived stress, preparation and clinical supervision was administered to the participants. Results Of the 89 students, 63 responded (response rate of 71%). Almost half of the students (59%) experienced stress at the beginning of their clinical training, while 33% thought that they were ready to begin their clerkship training. A majority of the students (81%) reported the need for more time to adjust to the new environment, and 84% indicated that a good introduction to the clerkship would make the transition easy for them. About half of the students (54%) reported receiving feedback during their clinical training. Conclusion This study highlighted the difficulties faced by medical students during their transition from preclinical to clinical training. There is a need to implement measures to ease this transition through a structured orientation about clerkship for both students and clinical faculty. In addition, it is recommended to organize faculty development workshops on feedback and supervision.

Social accountability (SA) is an obligation for medical schools in meeting the priority health concerns of the communities they serve. To measure the integration of SA principles into medical curricula, suitable tools are needed. This study developed and validated an inventory to assess SA values within the existing case scenarios used in problem-based learning (PBL) curricula. The Delphi technique was employed to develop and validate the new inventory. The validation used expert opinion and calculated the content validity using content validity indices (CVIs). The initial draft (Draft 0) was formulated with 25 open-ended questions. Following expert evaluation, Draft 1 had 22 closed-ended questions and the mean ratings, according to the experts, were as follows: relevance, 3.33–4.83; importance (3.5–4.8); clarity (3.33–4.83); and simplicity (3:00–4.67). Draft 2 had 19 questions. After a further round of rating and analysis, a final draft was prepared, consisting of 17 items, with CVI scores ≥ 0.8 and 100% overall satisfaction. Using this inventory tool will help health professions schools to translate SA indicators into curricular activities by identifying the gaps in their PBL curricula. Deficiencies can be either in the type of case scenarios used or the triggers embedded in the individual case scenarios, subsequently leading to the development of PBL case scenarios that address real health social needs. A revision and rewriting of the problem case scenarios to incorporate SA will be the next step.

Background: The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its quick progress to a global pandemic has urged medical schools to shift from didactic to distance learning and assessment approaches. The quality of clinical training and assessment have been jeopardized due to the regulatory restrictions and potential hazards to human lives. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of an electronic Objective Structured Clinical Examination (e-OSCE), which attempted to transform the format of a face-to-face OSCE to an e-OSCE.Methods: We conducted three end of clerkship e-OSCEs for final year medical students in Surgery, Medicine and Family Medicine using teleconferencing application of Microsoft Teams (MST). The e-OSCE blueprint included the assessment of all clinical skills except physical examination and procedural skills. Examiners supervised e-OSCE from the college campus while all students were remotely assessed through the MST channels. During the exam, the students stayed in their specified MST channels, examiners rotated across all students. The feasibility and effectiveness of e-OSCE was evaluated using a self-administered questionnaire to students, examiners and e-OSCE team. Results: The data analysis showed that 93.4% students and 92.2% examiners agreed with the quality and process of e-OSCE. Similarly, 83.6% students and 98% examiners agreed with the fairness, smoothness and organization of e-OSCE. As many as 45.9% students and 74.5% examiners agreed that e-OSCE was close to real life practice. Approximately one fifth of students and one third of examiners preferred e-OSCE over the face-to-face OSCE. The analysis of qualitative data generated themes of e-OSCE structure and technology. While majority of participants were satisfied with e-OSCE, students were concerned about examiners’ training and e-OSCE contents. Examiners and e-OSCE team recognized the paper-less, tech-savy, fast and reliable e-OSCE format. Conclusion: During and beyond COVID- 19 era, e-OSCE is a feasible and effective modality for assessing clinical competence except for physical examination and procedural skills. The planning and implementation of e-OSCE reflects an ingenuity in assessment of clinical competencies of medical students.

Background Medical schools have the obligation to direct their education toward addressing the priority health concerns of the societies that they serve. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the integration of the concepts and values of social accountability into the case scenarios that are used in a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum at a medical school in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods A validated “social accountability inventory for PBL” was used for examining 70 case scenarios in a problem-based learning (PBL) medical curriculum. Results The findings of the study showed that patient gender and age were included in all the 70 case scenarios. Vast majority of the case scenarios had successfully integrated the social accountably values in addressing the following: the major health problems or social health concerns of the UAE (73%), the social determinants of health (70%), the contextual integration of medical professionalism (87%), the evolving roles of doctors in the health system (79%), the healthcare referral system based on the case complexity (73%), the involvement of different stakeholders in healthcare (87%), psychosocial issues rather than only the disease-oriented issues (80%) and the values of health promotion/prevention (59%) cases. On the other hand, the case scenarios were deficient in integrating other social accountability values that related to the importance of treatment cost-effectiveness (91%), consideration of the underserved, disadvantaged or vulnerable populations in the society (89%), patient’s ethnicity (77%), multidisciplinary approach to patient management (67%), the socioeconomic statuses of patients (53%), the issues regarding the management of the health system (39%) respectively. There was variability in integrating the social accountability values in case scenarios across different units which are based on organ system. Conclusion Medical educators and healthcare leaders can use this valuable data to calibrate the curriculum content, especially when using a problem-based learning curriculum to integrate the values of social accountability such as relevance, quality, equity and cost-effectiveness to train the future generation of healthcare providers to be ready to address the ever-changing and diverse needs of the societies.

Objectives Continuous formative assessment with appropriate feedback is the pillar of effective clinical teaching and learning. Group Objective Structured Clinical Examination (GOSCE) has been reported as a resource-effective method of formative assessment. The present study aims to describe the development and evaluation of GOSCE as a formative assessment for pre-clerkship medical students. Methods At the University of Sharjah, GOSCE was introduced to medical students in Years 1, 2, and 3. The GOSCE was conducted as a formative assessment in which groups of 4–5 students were observed while they performed various clinical skills, followed by structured feedback from clinical tutors and peers. GOSCE was evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively and appropriate statistical analysis was applied to evaluate their responses. Results A total of 232 students who attended the GOSCE responded to the questionnaires. Most of the students and clinical tutors preferred formative GOSCE over individual feedback. Both students and clinical tutors valued the experience as it helped students to identify gaps and to share knowledge and skills among group members. Conclusion This study found that formative GOSCE provided a valuable and feasible educational opportunity for students to receive feedback about their clinical skills.