• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.137-142
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• 2019

Producing graduates with sufficient practical competency is the main mission of every educational institution. Following the accreditation of the Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation, medical schools have been stepping up efforts to establish curriculum that reflects the practical value of medical education and the importance of adapting to the practice of graduates in order to increase the accountability of medical education in Korea each year. To this end, all medical schools have recently made efforts to develop diverse policies to strengthen the social accountability of medical education along with the transition to a competency-based curriculum. In line with this trend, the institutional accountability of medical education as well as the personal accountability of students, the main subjects of learning, should be highlighted, and educational activities to foster accountability need to be specified. Personal accountability in medical students involves recognizing their social accountability as future doctors and understanding and practicing student accountability. To achieve this, medical schools should provide programs that support and teach practical application of skills, and students need to define and attempt specific activities to strengthen their accountability.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.121-135
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• 2012

Objectives: This article describes the effectiveness of, and student satisfaction with, the medical interview course. Methods: In the years 2010 and 2011, forty-two students took the medical interview course at the School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University. The evaluation of the course was conducted using student questionnaires. Results: The students believed that learning medical interview skills was very helpful, and there was an increase in the number of students who thought they could improve their skills by learning the medical interview course contents. Also, they have come to feel that 'building a relationship' is the most important skill in the medical interview process. We used experiential teaching methods such as doctor-patient role-playing, and the students rated that method better than others. In addition, the students responded that the appropriate time to take a medical interview course is in the middle of a clinical practice. They also thought that the current credit value of the course was appropriate. Moreover, the students wanted to add some specific contents about specialized communication skills for Korean medical treatment. Conclusions: The medical interview course received a favorable evaluation from the students who finished the course. Among the course contents, they were most concerned with building the doctor-patient relationship. Also, they preferred experiential teaching methods more than didactic methods. The current timing and credit value of the medical interview class was evaluated as appropriate, and the students felt that communication skills specific to Korean medical treatment need to be taught. Therefore, we conclude the medical interview course is important and is worth considering as an independent course.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.174-179
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence school life satisfaction based on personal variables, self-esteem, interpersonal relationships, and perception of the educational environment at a medical school in Korea. The data were collected from 228 medical students who agreed to participate in the study at a medical school. The Dundee Ready Medical Environment Measure (DREEM) and the self-esteem scale by Rosenberg were used. Questions measuring satisfaction of medical school life and interpersonal relationships (with professors, with senior/junior students, and with friends) were asked using a 5 point Likert scale. The data were analyzed by t-test, analysis of variance, and multiple regression analysis. The satisfaction of medical school life of male students was significantly higher than female students and increased with years of schooling. In DREEM, the students' perception of teachers decreased by school years. The relationship with senior and junior students of third year students was higher than other school years. The result of the regression analysis to determine the variables that affect satisfaction of medical school life showed that interpersonal relationships with senior and junior students, the students' social self-perception, and the students' perception of learning were significant. The results of this study will help medical schools in their plans to improve the level of satisfaction for the happiness and successful academic achievements of their students.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.177-187
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• 2017

Objectives: Medical students represent a primary target for tobacco cessation training. This study assessed the prevalence of medical students' tobacco use, attitudes, clinical skills, and tobacco-related curricula in two countries, the US and Italy, with known baseline disparities in hopes of identifying potential corrective interventions. Methods: From September to December 2013, medical students enrolled at the University of Bologna and at Brown University were recruited via email to answer survey questions assessing the prevalence of medical students' tobacco use, attitudes and clinical skills related to patients' smoking, and elements of medical school curricula related to tobacco use. Results: Of the 449 medical students enrolled at Brown and the 1426 enrolled at Bologna, 174 Brown students (38.7%) and 527 Bologna students (36.9%) participated in this study. Italian students were more likely to smoke (29.5% vs. 6.1%; p<0.001) and less likely to receive smoking cessation training (9.4% vs. 80.3%; p<0.001) than their American counterparts, even though the majority of students in both countries desired smoking cessation training (98.6% at Brown, 85.4% at Bologna; p<0.001). Additionally, negative beliefs regarding tobacco usage, the absence of formal training in smoking cessation counseling, and a negative interest in receiving specific training on smoking cessation were associated with a higher risk of not investigating a patient's smoking status during a routine history and not offering tobacco cessation treatment to patients. Conclusions: Medical curricula on tobacco-related health hazards and on smoking cessation should be mandatory in order to reduce smoking among medical students, physicians, and patients, thereby improving tobacco-related global health.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.55-69
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• 2024

Amid the increasing interest in medical humanities education, this study developed a medical humanities course that utilized design thinking to foster creative thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills that pre-medical students should possess. The course's efficacy was assessed by evaluating improvements in core design thinking skills. The present study was conducted among 83 first-year medical students after planning and implementing a design thinking course. The reflection journals written by students along the course of the class were examined using the template analysis technique to evaluate the effectiveness of the class. The study's primary findings showed the successful development of step-by-step medical humanities education content utilizing design thinking and its practical implementation in a class. Moreover, the course improved students' core design thinking skills effectively, and in a balanced way. These results illustrate the effective application of design thinking in medical school through a medical humanities course. These findings indicate that a medical humanities course can help medical students showcase their abilities to collaborate and solve problems in the real world. This paper suggests the need for further research to develop a curriculum that integrates design thinking and investigate the relationship between medical students' core competencies and design thinking-based courses.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.27-40
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• 2003

Objective： To determine second, third and fourth-year medical students' opinions and knowledge related to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in a school with no requirement or elective course on the subject. Study Design： A questionnaire was offered to second, third and fourth-year medical students of the Medical College of Kosin University from August 7th, through August 30th, 2003. Results： Most students had been exposed to CAM therapies, knew that the majority of the South Korean public was using CAM, believed that some CAM interventions were useful, and did not believe CAM therapies were a threat to public health. Only one fifth of the students(22.5％) disagreed that they had to have requirement or elective course on CAM in their curriculum. Most students had insufficient knowledge or understanding of the safety or lack of it for ten of the more common CAM modalities. Most respondents thought these interventions were useful, but would not refer a patient nor dissuade a patient from seeking out such interventions. Conclusion： Medical students in this school self-identified an interest about the clinical usefulness of ten CAM modalities, but did not have sufficient knowledge about the safety for ten of the more common CAM modalities. Including CAM topics in the medical school curriculum would better prepare physicians to respond to patient inquiries about CAM and thereby to fulfill their role as patient advocates.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.153-162
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• 2020

The aim of modern medicine is to prolong life by fighting death. Doctors have traditionally believed that this was an ethical good deed. The negative connotation surrounding death has led to the avoidance of terminally ill patients. But in a modern society where death is medicalized, doctors have to see dying patients every day and are in a state of guilt from implementing meaningless life-sustaining treatments. Therefore, medical schools should allow medical students to embrace a new perspective through death education. Yonsei University Medical College has implemented death education since 2017 as an optional class for first and second year medical students. Students watch videos related to death once a week for 6 weeks and submit their reflections by e-mail. The professor reads the students' reflections and gives them weekly feedback. Through this coursework, students realize that death is not a medical event, but rather a part of life and completion. The ultimate purpose of death education is to transform blind life-absolutist identity into narrative identity.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2015

Objective : The purpose of this research is to investigate the perception and attitude of Korean medical students toward career choice as a Korean medicine doctor. Method : The subject were 89 Korean medical students. Question investigation was applied. The questionnaire in this study contained 20 questions to investigate the perception toward career choice as a Korean medicine doctor. Results : Korean medical students showed higher interest in clinical practice, most of students(80.9%) answered they have planning for life's work as practicing Korean medicine doctor. First ranking as career they want is the pay doctor(36.2%), second is the intern(27.0%) as Korean medicine doctor within one year. The average age of students who answered that they hope to be intern is lower than who did not. Female students who hope to be intern preferred internal medicine, gynecology and pediatrics. But male students who hope to be intern preferred department of acupuncture & moxibustion, ophthalmology, otolaryngology & dermatology and rehabilitation. Conclusion : The result suggests that Korean medical students have an affirmative perception toward clinical doctor, but they are not interested in the other career.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.41-48
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• 2007

Yonsei University College of Medicine is about to adopt a new admission system in 2009 for postgraduate medical school. in which 4-year college graduates apply to it, instead of applying of high school graduates to undergraduate medical school. For preparing the new system, now, an admission policy is being intensively investigated. In the present admission system in Yonsei College of Medicine, college or university graduates with diverse majors such as pharmacy, biochemistry, engineering, social science and so on other than a medical major can be transferred into the undergraduate medical course when vacancy for enrollment is available. This study was performed to analyze the academic achievement of the transferred students for establishing a new admission system. In this study, the GPAs of 94 medical students transferred for 1998 to 2006 years were analyzed regarding academic and personal background, and compared with those of untrans- ferred medical students. The results showed some features. Particularly, the GPAs of transferred students with t he majors of art and social sciences were not lower than those with the major of natural sciences while transferred students with majors of pharmacy. veterinary science, nursing science, and biotechnology had their high academic achievements during the undergraduate medical courses.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.231-239
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• 2022

This study aimed to examine the influence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on areas of Korean medical students' lives, assess concerns, and investigate the strategies they used to cope with stress due to the pandemic. An online survey with a total of 53 items on the impact of COVID-19, concerns, and coping strategies was sent to medical students, and responses were collected from April 27, 2021 to May 30, 2021. In total, 1,329 students were included in the study. Analysis was performed using the chi-square test, independent-sample t-test, and one-way analysis of variance, and the post-hoc Scheffé test or Games-Howell test was performed for multiple comparisons. The main negative impacts of the pandemic were on hobbies/leisure activities and mental health, and medical students expressed the highest levels of concern regarding restriction of movement, returning to everyday life, and risk of infection for family and friends. Female students more strongly agreed that COVID-19 had increased their depressed mood and anxiety (p<0.001 and p=0.003, respectively). Furthermore, the negative impacts of the pandemic on different areas of life significantly affected current levels of depressed mood and anxiety. To cope with pandemic-related stress, students used several strategies such as talking with family or friends (91.5%), sleeping (83.1%), exercising (72.8%), using social networking services (60.8%), drinking alcohol (37.8%), and practicing meditation/mindfulness (24.4%); the effectiveness of these strategies ranged from 3.45 to 4.19 on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1-5). The study findings suggest that COVID-19 has influenced the mental health of medical students and raised concerns in many areas of their lives. Students used various strategies to cope with the pandemic-related stress; since the effectiveness of frequently used approaches varied, it is essential to guide medical students to develop effective coping strategies.