Educational Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:4 Issue: 2, Dec 2015

Study skills and students’ satisfaction with their performance positively affect their academic achievement. The current research was carried out to investigate the correlation of study skills with academic achievement among the medical and pharmacy students in 2013.
This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 148 students of basic medical sciences and pharmacy through convenience sampling. Data were collected by a valid and reliable questionnaire, consisting of two sections: Demographic information and questions about daily study hours, study skills in six domains, and students’ satisfaction with study skills. Collected data sets were analyzed by SPSS-16 software.
In total, 10.9% of students were reported to have favorable study skills. The minimum score was found for preparation for examination domain. Also, a significantly positive correlation was observed between students’ study skills and their Grade Point Average (GPA) of previous term (P=0.001, r=0.269) and satisfaction with study skills (P=0.001, r=0.493).
The findings indicated that students’ study skills need to be improved. Given the significant relationship between study skills and GPA, as an index of academic achievement, and satisfaction, it is necessary to promote the students’ study skills. These skills are suggested to be reinforced, with more emphasis on weaker domains.

Although the contribution of organizational learning to employee organizational performance is well documented, the mechanisms that explain such relationship remain unclear. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the interactional role of organizational learning and informal norms in accountability and job performance of the staff in a medical department.
The research method of the study is descriptive-correlational type. The statistical population of this study included all staff (N=315) of the Medical Department in Oshnavieh Hospital in 2014. For data gathering in this study, a sample comprising of 180 staff was selected using stratified random sampling. The data were collected through standard questionnaires of Neefe for organizational learning, informal norms of Hall, job performance of Paterson, and the questionnaire of individual accountability of Hochwarter. Pearson and moderated multiple regression analysis were used to test hypotheses.
Results showed that organizational learning has a positive and significant correlation with job performance and individual accountability. The results, also, showed a positive and significant correlation between informal norms, personal accountability, and job performance. Regression results showed the interactive role of learning structure dimensions, strategy, and shared vision with informal norms, predicting individual accountability of the staff. Also, interactive role of organizational learning and informal norms was confirmed in predicting job performance of the medical staff.
Theresult of this study hold out that organizational learning directly and with interaction of informal norms improves staff's performance and accountability. As a result of improved informal norms in a medical setting, we will have staff’s strong accountability and performance.

Activities of a nurse are not limited to his/her knowledge and skills in the management of patients, but they need to have some characteristics related to their job. These characteristics in general are referred to professional behaviour. The present study is an attempt to compare professional behaviours in an educational setting (nursing students) and workplace (nurses).
This is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study. The data were collected using NPVS-R standard questionnaires used in two versions; self-report questionnaires completed by the study groups and assessment questionnaires completed by the authorities. The students and nurses were sampled through census and cluster sampling, respectively. The sample size included 80 patients (40 samples per study group), and finally 160 questionnaires were completed by them. After collecting the data, they were inserted to the SPSS18 software and then analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and paired t-test.
The highest mean score of the two study groups based on self-report and assessment questionnaires was obtained in assessment of nurses by head nurses, and the lowest score was obtained in self-reports of the nurses. There was no significant statistical difference between the study groups (P =0.322). However, the mean score obtained from student assessments by instructors and professors and the mean score obtained from assessment of nurses by the head nurses were significantly different in terms of pragmatism (P= 0.05) and freedom (P >0.001).
The results obtained from evaluation of the eight factors related to professional nursing behaviour highlight the professional behaviour in the workplace and educational settings, extension of this behaviour from educational settings to the workplace, and even promotion of that. Thus, culture building and holding in-service training courses and including the professional behaviour education in the curriculums of students are highly recommended.

Self-directed learning is originated from adult education which has currently gained a special place in educational systems and is influenced by many variables such as teaching self-efficacy and self-directed learning. This research investigated the relationship of teachers’ teaching with academic self-efficacy and self-directed learning from English language student's perspectives.
The study population comprised of all bachelor, master and Ph.D. English language students of Allameh Tabataba’i University (2014-2015) who had passed at least one semester. A total of 159 students were selected as study sample using Cochran formula and proportional stratified sampling. The data were collected through three standard questionnaires with confirmed validity and reliability. Data were analyzed by one-sample t-test, Pearson correlation and multiple regression.
With regard to teaching efficiency, content presentation, learning evaluation and class management skills were higher than average and lesson planning and control over content skills were at an average level. Also, all dimensions of academic self-efficacy and self-directed learning were significantly higher than average. The correlation between teaching efficiency and self-efficacy (r=0.367) and self-directed learning (r=0.571), and between self-efficacy and self-directed learning (r=0.523) was statistically significant (PSuccess in the realm of academia and organizational learning depends on the learners’ updated knowledge and skills and self-directed learning. Also, it seems teachers’ efficient teaching affects students’ academic self-efficacy, orienting them toward self-directed learning.

This study was carried out to analyze the viewpoint of the residents of school of dentistry about the curriculum presented in the residency program to students of Mashhad School of Dentistry.
To evaluate the perspectives of residents of dental school about the curriculum and regulations of residency program, a questionnaire was designed whose validity and reliability were confirmed by the authorities of School of Dentistry and test-retest reliability, respectively. The questionnaire was distributed among 100 residents and 80 of them completed the questionnaires. The data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 11.5).
A total of 43% of residents were informed of the curriculum (e.g. academic leave, transfer, removal of semester, etc.). As for the ability to write research proposal, 42.7% of residents were reported to have a favorable status, i.e. they were able to write more than 80% of their proposal. From among the residents, 30.4% had specialized English language certificate. Most of them (77%) were satisfied with the professional staff, faculty members, of the faculty. Many students liked to participate in the teaching method courses of the residency program.
Residents maintained that the curriculum in such domains as educational and research issues and special capabilities had some weak points. Thus, appropriate strategies are recommended to be applied to revise the curriculum using the residents’ views on these programs.

Academic failure of students is a major problem of higher education. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the factors causing academic failure in nursing students of Qom University of Medical Sciences in 2015.
This qualitative study was carried out via conventional qualitative content analysis approach. A total of 21 nursing students (18 males and 3 females) who had a Grade Point Average (GPA) lower than the previous semester and were conditioned (average 12) were selected through purposive sampling from the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Qom University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews conducted with each individual. Interviews were continued until data saturation, taking about 45 to 70 minutes. Data analysis was performed simultaneously with data gathering.
In this study, the mean age of participants was 21.9±4.1 year. Data analysis demonstrated that individual factors, factors related to curriculum, teaching methods of the faculty, large number of students in class, lack of formative assessment of teachers, lack of interaction between the faculty and students, and failure to comply with lesson plans were major causes of academic failure among students.
Based on the results, managers, instructors and counselors can monitor their student's academic achievement by careful planning, active teaching methods and continuous assessment of students, and conduct individual and group counseling sessions to prevent academic failure.

The Attachment system as described by John Bowlby, is an innate human tendency and it is in the service of infants to form a relationship with primary care givers for normal development. In adulthood, this system is activated under stressful conditions and the person responds to it based upon previous internal models of self and the others. Considering the importance of a secure style for health care professionals, the purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the attachment style in the residents of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.
In the present study 243 residents in different specialties were recruited and divided into 3 groups. We assessed the attachment styles of the participants using Van Oudenhoven's Adult Attachment Style Questionnaire.
No difference in attachment styles among these three groups was found. However, the female residents had a more secure score compared to the male participants.
This study, as a preliminary one, offers some questions that may be addressed in the future studies. Paying attention to the attachment styles in the medical students, residents and health care professionals may lead to design proper programs to enhance their abilities to empathize with their patients and development of more effective relationships in their career.

This study was conducted to determine the validity and reliability of OSCE in evaluating the clinical skills of midwifery students at Kashan University of Medical Sciences in 2014. This descriptive-correlational study was carried out on 23 senior midwifery students. The OSCE scores were calculated according to the structured objective checklists. Content and criterion validity and reliability were also assessed. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS-16 using ANOVA and Spearman correlation coefficients. There was a significant relationship between the clinical scores and the OSCE score (P=0.03). The reliability results of the evaluation of stations by two observers showed that the lowest and highest correlation coefficients between observers were 0.58 and 1.00, respectively. Owing to good reliability and validity of this test in the first period of its implementation in Kashan, it can be recommended for subsequent periods as part of the final exam for midwifery students.

Revered editor evaluation of medical students in specialized medical fields has great importance in determining the necessary competence to learning clinical environments and necessary ability for functioning in the real environment (1). New specialized medical evaluation focuses on ways that confirm the clinical competence assistant that can point to the students’ experience booklet (log book); assay exams; Multiple Choice Question (MCQ); Objective Structural Clinical Examination (OSCE); observation with check list or rating scale; self-assessment and assessment by peers rating scale general; Portfolio; Direct Observation of Procedure Skill (DOPS); Mini Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX); 360-degree comprehensive assessment of Clinical Skills based on Records assistants (CSR); Objective Structural Practical Examination (OSPE) (2). This descriptive-analytical study was performed to evaluate the use of modern methods of evaluation among eleven postgraduate departments in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2015.
Data collection tool was a checklist that was prepared by researchers and was completed by clinical group managers. Data were analyzed with SPSS-16 software, Chi-square test and analysis of variance. In total of 11 studied groups, 106 full-time board faculty members, 14 co-education, 221 residents were working. The most modern methods to evaluate in %100 of groups were OSCE and MCQ, DOPS in %80 of groups, and Mini-CEX and CSR in% 27 of groups.
Assay exams were used in infectious and pathology groups as the use of other modern methods of evaluation was not observed in all groups. Statistically, the most important reasons for the lack of significant new methods of evaluation were: internal decision of the department (P=0.002), unfamiliarity of team members with modern methods of evaluation (P=0.06), and the adequacy of other methods of evaluation according to the decision of the department (P