masomeh kalantarion

Evaluating the effectiveness of educational courses is essential for ensuring high-quality healthcare.

This study assessed the effectiveness of current in-service training courses on infection prevention and control for nurses, using the Kirkpatrick evaluation model.

This evaluative study was conducted at Shiraz Army Hospital in 2024, involving 40 nurses and 10 supervisors. The educational program consisted of interactive workshops held over two days, covering topics such as standard precautions, isolation procedures, and hand hygiene. The evaluation followed Kirkpatrick’s four levels: Reaction, learning, behavior, and impact. Nurses' reactions and knowledge were measured using validated questionnaires, while supervisors assessed behavioral changes. Data were analyzed with SPSS 26, using descriptive statistics and a one-sample t -test.

All four levels of the Kirkpatrick model were evaluated. Nurses reported a mean reaction score of 3.73 (SD = 0.80), reflecting positive feedback on the training. Knowledge scores significantly increased from a pre-test mean of 2.39 (SD = 0.74) to a post-test mean of 3.72 (SD = 0.74) (P < 0.001). Supervisors observed a behavioral improvement, with scores increasing from 2.34 (SD = 0.94) to 3.72 (SD = 0.74) (P = 0.004). Furthermore, the nosocomial infection index decreased from 0.7 to 0.5 (P = 0.002) following the training.

The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of current in-service training courses on infection prevention and control for nurses. The Kirkpatrick model proved to be a valuable evaluation tool, underscoring the importance of ongoing assessment of nurses’ competencies to enhance infection prevention practices.

This Letter explores the transformative impact of stealth assessment on medical education and its potential to enhance learning outcomes. Stealth assessment, an innovative approach, subtly measures students’ learning progress while the students interact with rich and engaging environments, seamlessly integrating assessment within authentic learning activities. By mirroring the testing scenario with the learning format, stealth assessment mitigates test-related anxiety and promotes continuous engagement in training. It also plays a pivotal role in evaluating non-cognitive skills and attributes, such as empathy and ethical decision-making, which are often overlooked by traditional testing methods. Stealth assessment offers advantages in scalability andefficiency, leveraging technology and automation to streamline data analysis and feedback generation. The adoption of stealth assessment in medical education holds the promise of nurturing self-directed learning, reflective practices, and the development of nuanced skills necessary for medical practice, ultimately producing competent and well-rounded healthcare professionals.

Clinical education is a vital component of physician education, where medical students learn by attending to patients and applying their knowledge and reasoning to solve their problems. However, many medical students struggle to acquire procedural skills, the ultimate goal of clinical education. Procedural skills are expected to be learned by the residents according to their academic year and are essential for providing better health services to children and families.

This study evaluates the status of the training provided and the level of learning the necessary procedural skills in pediatric residents based on standards.

This research was a descriptive cross-sectional method from 1998 to 99. In the first part of the researcher-made questionnaire, the implementation of the educational program on all pediatric residents (115) of Mofid Children's Hospital was evaluated. In the second part, the residents' views on the current state of their learning of essential procedural skills were determined.

All residents from years one to four participated in the study. After assessing the status of skills acquired by residents with a questionnaire and comparing the average of each skill acquisition procedure with the desired standards, the average of all skills in all three methods was under the standards approved by the Ministry of Health, except for independent subcutaneous, intramuscular and intravenous injection skills and the skill of working with a ventilator. Also, according to the Friedman test, the lowest score for gaining skills in performing procedures was related to NG tube placement skills and subcutaneous, intramuscular, and intravenous injection skills. According to the statistical results obtained from the Spearman coefficient in all procedures, the level of subcutaneous, intramuscular, and intravenous injection skills had a significant correlation with independent skills.

According to the specialized assistants of children participating in this study, the current training program of essential procedural skills implemented at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences was generally useful and effective. But there were also obstacles and limitations. Therefore, it is recommended to review the implementation of the training programs and implement effective measures, including providing more exposure conditions for independent procedures.

To estimate the level of job satisfaction among ophthalmologists in Iran and determine the associated factors that may impact their overall job satisfaction.

In this cross-sectional study, 181 ophthalmologists (79.0% male) were interviewed by the Warr-Cook-Wall questionnaire with 7-point-Likert scale, which transformed responses from a 0 (most dissatisfied) to 100 (most satisfied). Questionnaires were randomly distributed among registered ophthalmologists at the 29𝑡ℎ Annual Congress of the Iranian Society of Ophthalmology in November 2019. Satisfaction under each scale was considered as a score of >60% of the total score.

A total of 181 ophthalmologists with a mean age of 47.8 ± 12.1 years and 16 ± 12 years of practice participated in the present study. They were mostly satisfied with their job as a whole (88.1%, mean score: 60.6 ± 20.7) and dissatisfied with their income (55.9%, mean score: 47.6 ± 20.3). High levels of job satisfaction was found among ophthalmologists with longer duration of practice (P < 0.001) while lower levels of satisfaction were identified among those who worked in academic centers (P = 0.004).

In this study, high levels of job satisfaction were found among ophthalmologists with longer duration of practice while low levels of satisfaction were identified among ophthalmologists who worked in academic centers. The factors of salary and working hours accounted for the least levels of job satisfaction.

Mobile learning is one of the innovative teaching techniques that help medical students gain knowledge and skills. One of the factors that expanded the use of this strategy was the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the educational pedagogy of such technology has been neglected. This article aimed to critically review available mobile learning models in medical education to suggest a comprehensive model in the field of mobile learning.

We conducted this critical review based on the five steps of the Carnwell and Daly method. For a comprehensive systematic search from 2000 to April 2021, the following keywords were used: Personal Digital Assistant, m learning, Mobile learning, Ubiquitous learning, U learning, medical students, and medical education. 3176 studies in PubMed, Scopus, ERIC, Magiran, and Web of Science were identified. In total, 8 articles entered the study.

Eight models of mobile learning in medical education were identified. The key features of each model were extracted and integrated into the new model for the successful design and implementation of mobile learning. This model includes three main elements of mobile learning: 1-stakeholders, 2-interaction, and 3-technology, which are influenced by external factors including Mobiquette, legitimacy, and awareness.

The results of this study are an important contribution to the knowledge collection in mobile learning inmedical education. We introduced a comprehensive model of mobile learning including specific characteristics of strategies in the context of medical education.

To identify the psychological impact of coronavirus disease on ophthalmologists practicing in Iran between August and December 2020.

In this cross-sectional online survey, a standard Patient Health Questionnaire9 (PHQ- 9) was completed by 228 ophthalmologists who were practicing in Iran. The PHQ- 9 questionnaire was revised by adding two additional questions specifically applicable for the assessment of the psychological impact of coronavirus disease on the Iranian ophthalmologists. An organized classification regarding the assessment of different depression severities identified as no (0–4), mild (5–9), moderate (10–14), or severe (15–21) was then considered for data analysis.

The mean age of our participants was 49.0 ± 15.61 years and the majority of them (67.1%) were male. Depression was discovered in 73.68% (n = 168) with different severities ranging from mild (n = 61, 26.75%), moderate (n = 63, 27.63%), and severe (n = 44, 19.3%). It was found that participants with depression were older as compared to those without depression (P = 0.038). Higher percentages of severe depression were noticed in the high-risk regions contaminated with corona virus as compared to the other low-risk regions (P = 0.003). Based on multivariable models, we determined that ophthalmologists who were somewhat concerned about their training/ profession (OR: 0.240; 95% CI: 0.086–0.672; P = 0.007) and those with no concerns about their income had lower association with depression (OR: 0.065; 95% CI: 0.005–0.91; P = 0.042).

High prevalence of depression was observed among older aged Iranian ophthalmologists living in high-risk contaminated regions who possessed serious concerns with respect to their training/profession and income. It is recommended that the health policymakers of Iran pay more attention to the ophthalmologists who experience the aforementioned factors.

The Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs in the medical community aim to improve the knowledge of practitioners and its effect on changing their performance. Previous studies showed that CME causes minimum changes in physicians’ behaviors, so it is important to pay attention to the views of this group. In this regard, this qualitative study aimed to explain the Iranian Ophthalmologists’ perceptions and experiences concerning the CME Programs in Iran. In this qualitative study, 18 participants, including 10 subspecialists and 8 general ophthalmologists, were recruited to participate in in-depth interviews concerning their experienceswith CME. The required data were collected from April 2018 to Feb 2019. Each interview was conducted in medical universities; eye research centers; and the ophthalmology departments, offices, and operating rooms of public and private hospitals. The current study was performed using a content analysis based on the Granheim and Lundman’s methods. The codes, sub- categories,categories, and themes were then explored through an inductive process in which the researchers moved from specific to general. The data obtained from interviews, and filed notes were analyzed and then classified into the following four themes: “growth and development of the ophthalmology’s CME program over time”, “challenges of the ophthalmology’s CME program”, “reasons for the participation of the ophthalmologist in the CME program”, and “strategies for improvement”. Based on the qualitative study’s results, in spite of growth and development of the design and implementation of the Ophthalmologic CME programs, we are still facing multiplechallenges. Enhancing the interactivity between the providers and participants can also improve the ophthalmology CME programs.

The current outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) across the world forced universities to suspend learning to limit the spread of the virus. Many medical schools have shifted to online education as an information delivery mechanism where the educator and learner are separated in space and potentially also in time. This systematic review aims to explore and understand the variety of distance learning strategies in medical students in the contexts of COVID‑19. A systematic review was conducted in Web of Sciences, PubMed, Educational Resources and Information Center, and Scopus from December 2019 to July 2020. Eight sets of terminology were used, combining “Distance learning” AND “Medical education” AND “Pandemic.” Studies were reviewed independently by two reviewers. Data were extracted and quality appraised using QualSyst tools, and synthesized by performing thematic analysis. A total of 473 articles were identified after removing duplicates and 314 records were screened, of which 125 were included in this study. The primary articles were 52 primarily qualitative articles. Five learning strategies consisted of technology‑enhanced learning (TEL), simulation‑based learning, technology‑based clinical education, mobile learning, and blended learning. Tools, methods, and learning resources associated with these five learning strategies were extracted from the articles. Our review highlights that TEL and simulation‑based learning were more commonly used than others in distance learning in medical education during the COVID‑19 pandemic. These strategies have the potential to improve learners’ level of knowledge and performance through making online learning resources such as Massive Open Online Courses, virtual clinical cases, and blended sources accessible.

Identifying the learners’ problems is important. Besides, many factors are associated with academic failure, among which time management and stress are more important than any others based on evidence. By using a systematic review and meta‑analysis, this study aims to synthesize the findings of studies about the correlation of time management and stress with academic failure to suggest a more in‑depth insight into the effect of these two factors on academic failure. Four databases were searched from the inception of January 2018. Publication bias was evaluated visually using funnel plots and sized up by Egger’s test. Ninety‑four articles were found to be qualified for inclusion after full‑text review and additional manual reference made. Of these, 8 were studies of educational interventions that were reviewed in this paper. Regarding the relation of stress and academic performance, the Funnel plot (results not shown) and Egger’s test showed no publication bias in the studies (P = 0.719). Based on this result, the estimated pooled correlation (reverted by hyperbolic tangent transformation) between stress and academic performance was found to be −0.32 (95% confidence interval: −0.38–−0.25). In conclusion, the review recognized a series of potentially mutable medium‑to‑large correlates of academic achievement, time management, and stress. It would be essential to have experimental data on how easily such self‑regulatory capacities can be altered, and these interventions could help students enhance their potential, providing empirical tests for offered process models of academic achievement.

To design a screening program for prevention of blindness at the community level in Iran. In this qualitative study, the components and properties of the screening program were identified using a participatory action research method with focus group meetings (FGMs) with relevant health care providers and authorities. A content analysis approach was used for data analysis. In total, 18 stakeholders including six ophthalmologists with different sub-specialties participated in the five FGMs. The screening program aims to discover vision-threatening eye conditions in people aged 50 years and over. Primary health care workers deliver the program including vision tests and fundus imaging with the support of an ophthalmic technician. Retina specialists perform decision-making. Referral plans are interacted through an automated digital program. The screening environment, feedback, ethics and medical legal issues are other main components of the program. This study presents the initial concepts and components of a screening program for prevention of blindness in the adult population in Iran. The program has the potential to improve eye health at the community level and may potentially be replicated as a model for similar settings elsewhere.