Scientific Skills as Core Competences in Medical Education: What do medical students think?

Abstract

Background: Scientific excellence is one of the most fundamental underpinnings of medical education and its relevance is unquestionable. To be involved in research activities enhances students' critical thinking and problem-solving capacities, which are mandatory competences for new achievements in patient care and consequently to the improvement of clinical practice. Purposes: This work aimed to study the relevance given by Portuguese medical students to a core of scientific skills, and their judgment about their own ability to execute those skills. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on students attending the first, fourth and sixth years of medical course in the same period. An assessment istrument, exploring the importance given by Portuguese medical students to scientific skills in high school, to clinical practice and to their own ability to execute them, was designed, adapted and applied specifically to this study. Results: Students' perceptions were associated with gender, academic year, previous participation in research activities, positive and negative attitudes toward science, research integration into the curriculum and motivation to undertake research. The viewpoint of medical students about the relevance of scientific skills overall, and the ability to execute them, was independently associated with motivation to be enrolled in research. Conclusions: These findings have meaningful implications in medical education regarding the inclusion of a structural research program in the medical curriculum. Students should be aware that clinical practice would greatly benefit from Downloaded by [University of Otago] at 02:57 04 July 2015 the enrollment in research activities. By developing a solid scientific literacy future physicians will be able to apply new knowledge in patient care.

Performance of a core of transversal skills: self-perceptions of undergraduate medical students

“…Medical students were invited to fulfill an anonymous self-administered and validated questionnaire: “Importance of Transversal Skills for Clinical Practice” (ITS4CP) developed by the authors [ 12 ]. The transversal skills included in the questionnaire were adapted from AMEE Medical Education Guide [ 3 ].…”

“…However, transversal skills of medical freshman students, as well as their development throughout the medical course, have not yet been assessed, especially considering the recent reforms in medical education. Our research group has been studying several issues related with undergraduate medical education [ 10 – 12 ].…”

Educação Médica no Século XXI: O Desafio da Integração da Tecnologia e Humanidades

“…É nuclear introduzir a promoção do pensamento científico aos futuros médicos [15][16][17] através do desenvolvimento das competências nucleares (gestão da informação, competências de comunicação, pensamento crítico).…”

“…Pretende-se que, desde o início do programa curricular e transversalmente ao longo do curso, sejam contemplados espaços e tempos formais de investigação e trabalho experimental. [15][16][17] Pensar cientificamente é uma das competências nucleares da formação dos profissionais de saúde.…”

“…De entre estas, as que conferem competências transversais na formação nas áreas da saúde são hoje reconhecidamente as que mais enriquecem os curricula atuais na formação dos profissionais de saúde. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Nas áreas das Ciências da Saúde em geral e na Medicina em especial, a evolução dos conhecimentos e o contexto de mudança que enformam os cursos de Medicina, tornam ainda mais crítica a decisão sobre a seleção e modo de organização de um conjunto de conteúdos e do modo do seu desenvolvimento que assegurem a formação nuclear da educação médica pré-graduada.…”