• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.57-80
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to examine the information search behavior of medical consumers visiting a hospital, and investigate the consumption values of medical consumers, classified according to the information search behavior, and characteristics of online health and disease information. This study also tried to identify the factors affecting medical consumers classified according to information search behavior, and gain an extensive understanding of medical consumers'consumption values and online information use. The analysis results of this study are as follows: First, the consumption values of medical consumers were classified into a total of 7 factors, i.e. future-positive value, family-oriented value, sustainablehealth value, rational-progressive value, social-cooperative value, socialachiever value and hedonistic-individual value. Next, the characteristics of medical consumers'online information search behavior were classified into three types of consumer groups, i.e. the limited information-oriented consumer group, the practical information-oriented consumer group and the passionate information-oriented consumer group. Second, the analysis of the differences among the three groups classified according to the characteristics of the information search behavior in terms of consumption values, use of online information sources, utility and the intention to reuse online information showed that all the differences were statistically significant. The passionate information-oriented consumer group showed the highest scores in the sustainable-health value, the social-achiever value and the hedonisticindividual value. Third, the factors affecting medical consumers, classified into three groups according to the characteristics of the information search behavior, were found to be socio-demographic variables like consumers' age and occupation, consumers'consumption values, use of online information sources, and utility of online information. This study tried to understand what values medical consumers have according to the differences in the information search behavior by examining the consumption values of medical consumers according to the information search behavior. The significance of this study lies in the fact that consumption values are instrumental in understanding medical consumers by identifying the fundamental motives and desires of consumers' behavior.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.168-175
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• 2021

To analyze medical professors' evaluation of their online education experiences in an attempt to support faculty members and indicate the future direction of medical education. Faculty members who taught online in the first semester of 2020 at Yonsei University College of Medicine in South Korea were surveyed. The results of the survey were analyzed in June 2020. There were 88 respondents (35.1% of 251): 59 professors (67.0%), 16 associate professors (18.2%), and 13 assistant professors (14.8%). Their specialties lay in basic medicine (25.0%), clinical medicine (65.9%), and research and special purposes (9.1%). Sixteen participants (18.2%) had previous experience in online lectures; 23 (26.1%) reported that preparation time for online lectures was the same as before; 65 (73.9%) reported that the preparation time had increased; 38 (43.2%) faced difficulties in preparation and lecturing online, and among them 16 (42.1%) indicated inadequate interaction with students; 11 (28.9%) needed extra preparation time; and 11 (28.9%) attributed their difficulties to technical issues with the online platform. Participants' satisfaction with online lectures was low (p<0.001). In the free response question on overall experience with online education, 38.3% mentioned the need for an instructional design that allows students to actively participate and interact with professors, 29.5% mentioned the need for the establishment of an information & communications technology system, and 17.0% mentioned the necessity of faculty development. To prepare for the current pandemic and more in the long term, an appropriate educational support system must be constructed, and a learner-centered instructional design that enables wider interactions and active learning is needed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.933-936
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• 2016

Online social network technologies have become important to health and apply in most health care areas. Particularly in cancer care, because it is a disease which involves many social aspects, online social networks can be very useful. Use of online social networks provides a suitable platform for cancer patients and families to present and share information about their medical conditions, address their educational needs, support decision making, and help to coping with their disease and improve their own outcomes. Like any other new technologies, online social networks, along with many benefits, have some negative effects such as violation of privacy and publication of incorrect information. However, if these effects are managed properly, they can empower patients to manage cancer through changing behavioral patterns and enhancing the quality of cancer patients lives This paper explains some application of online social networks in the cancer patient care process. It also covers advantages and disadvantages of related technologies.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.200-209
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• 2023

Background As the coronavirus disease 2019 virus made its way throughout the world, there was a complete overhaul of our day-to-day personal and professional lives. All aspects of health care were affected including academics. During the pandemic, teaching opportunities for resident training were drastically reduced. Consequently, medical universities in many parts across the globe implemented online learning, in which students are taught remotely and via digital platforms. Given these developments, evaluating the existing mode of teaching via digital platforms as well as incorporation of new models is critical to improve and implement. Methods We reviewed different online learning platforms used to continue regular academic teaching of the plastic surgery residency curriculum. This study compares the four popular Web conferencing platforms used for online learning and evaluated their suitability for providing plastic surgery education. Results In this study with a response rate of 59.9%, we found a 64% agreement rate to online classes being more convenient than normal classroom teaching. Conclusion Zoom was the most user-friendly, with a simple and intuitive interface that was ideal for online instruction. With a better understanding of factors related to online teaching and learning, we will be able to deliver quality education in residency programs in the future.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.46-55
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• 2021

Since the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), medical schools have experienced a sudden, full-scale transition to online classes. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it is important to evaluate current educational programs and to assess their implications. This study explored perceptions of online classes and learning behavior among medical students. Twenty preclinical medical students were interviewed in focus groups for 2 months. They generally expressed positive perceptions about online classes, and in particular, positively assessed the ability to lead their individual lifestyles and study in comfortable environments with fewer time and space constraints. Students thought that the online environment provided a fair chance of facilitating positive interactions with the professor and considered communication with the professor to be an important factor only when it was related to the class content or directly helped with their grades and careers. Students also had negative views, such as feeling uncertain when they could not see their peers' learning progress and assess themselves in comparison and feeling social isolation. Learning behaviors have also changed, as students explored their learning styles and adapted to the changed learning environment. Students expanded their learning by using online functions. However, students sometimes abused the online class format by "just playing" the lecture while not paying attention and relying on other students' lecture transcripts to study. The results of this study are hoped to provide a useful foundation for future research on online class-based teaching and learning.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.144-144
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• 2020

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.18-36
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• 2024

This study delved into the complex nature of medical services as experience goods and trust services, investigating the profound impact of online word-of-mouth on medical consumers' decisions to visit hospitals. Considering the restrictive legal framework for medical advertising, consumers are increasingly dependent on unrestricted sources of information like online reviews. This research aimed to provide empirical evidence for the significant role online word-of-mouth plays in hospital selection. Utilizing data from Naver reviews, hospital choice factors were classified based on the Kano model, revealing the subtle yet significant influence that word-of-mouth has on consumers' hospital visit intentions beyond merely positive or negative messages. In particular, the study provided insights into how the categorized positive and negative information, along with the presence or absence of emotional expression, affects the efficacy of word-of-mouth. The experiment targeted medical consumers aged over 20 and, through analysis using the SPSS statistical program, yielded important findings. The direction of online word-of-mouth, the presence of emotional expression, and the interaction of Kano attributes all created significant differences in hospital visit intentions. Notably, emotional expression included in negative word-of-mouth concerning one-dimensional attributes markedly decreased visit intentions, whereas the absence of emotional expression in attractive attributes actually enhanced reliability and increased visit intentions. These findings offer critical implications for redefining strategies in medical marketing and online review management. The discoveries of this study underscore the importance of active engagement and strategic management of online reviews by medical service providers, urging careful consideration of the various elements of online word-of-mouth that influence medical consumers' hospital visit intentions.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.118-127
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• 2021

Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the new norm of online learning has been recognized as core to medical institutions for academic continuity, and students are expected to be motivated and engaged in learning while maintaining distance from other peers and educators. To facilitate students' and educators' newly defined roles in online medical education settings, it is crucial to understand how students are actively motivated and engaged in learning. Hence, this study explored medical students' motivational regulation profiles and examined the effects of motivational regulation strategies (MRS) on cognitive learning and learning engagement for online learning. Data were collected after the end of the first semester in 2020 from a sample of 334 medical students enrolled at a public university school of medicine. Latent profile analysis indicated three subgroups with different motivational regulation profiles: the low-profile, medium-profile, and high-profile groups. Regarding different MRS patterns in the high-profile group, mastery self-talk, performance approach self-talk, and the self-consequating strategy appeared to be most applicable for regulating learners' motivation. Analysis of variance showed that the profile groups with higher levels of MRS use were connected to a higher willingness to use cognitive learning strategies and a higher degree of engagement in online learning. The findings of this study emphasize the use of specific sets of MRS to support learning motivation and the need to design effective self-regulated learning environments in online medical education settings.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.179-186
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• 2023

Background: This study summarizes the experience of operating a 'Medical Humanities' course, which was taught remotely to maintain activities and discussions at medical schools in Daegu, Korea during the sudden and unexpected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: The subjects of this study were 73 first- and 79 second-grade medical students who took the medical humanities (1) and (2) courses among first- and second-grade students of Yeungnam University College of Medicine in 2020. Of the 152 students who agreed to the online survey, 123 completed the survey. Self-, environmental, and program evaluations were conducted on the study subjects, and differences according to grade and gender were analyzed. Results: As a result of the study, a significant difference between self-evaluation and environmental evaluation was confirmed. Self-evaluation was determined to be higher in the first grade than in the second grade. The environmental evaluation showed that male students were more satisfied than female students and students generally had difficulties in the classroom environment. Of the applications used in class, the highest satisfaction was observed with KakaoTalk (Kakao Corp.) and Zoom (Zoom Video Communications Inc.). At the end of COVID-19, the students preferred online classes. Conclusion: If the learning environment for online classes is well prepared and systematic provisions are made, such as class operations that are suitable for the subject, effective education and learning can be achieved by taking advantage of both face-to-face and online classes.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.55-63
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• 2023

Background: Common questions about shoulder arthroplasty (SA) searched online by patients and the quality of this content are unknown. The purpose of this study is to uncover questions SA patients search online and determine types and quality of webpages encountered. Methods: The "People also ask" section of Google Search was queried to return 900 questions and associated webpages for general, anatomic, and reverse SA. Questions and webpages were categorized using the Rothwell classification of questions and assessed for quality using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria. Results: According to Rothwell classification, the composition of questions was fact (54.0%), value (24.7%), and policy (21.3%). The most common webpage categories were medical practice (24.6%), academic (23.2%), and medical information sites (14.4%). Journal articles represented 8.9% of results. The average JAMA score for all webpages was 1.69. Journals had the highest average JAMA score (3.91), while medical practice sites had the lowest (0.89). The most common question was, "How long does it take to recover from shoulder replacement?" Conclusions: The most common questions SA patients ask online involve specific postoperative activities and the timeline of recovery. Most information is from low-quality, non-peer-reviewed websites, highlighting the need for improvement in online resources. By understanding the questions patients are asking online, surgeons can tailor preoperative education to common patient concerns and improve postoperative outcomes. Level of evidence: IV.