Perceptions and attitudes of medical students towards student evaluation of teaching: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Faculty evaluation surveys in the frame of student evaluation of teaching (SETs) are a widely utilized tool to assess faculty teaching. Although SETs are used regularly to evaluate teaching effectiveness, their sole use for making administrative decisions and as an indicator of teaching quality has been controversial. METHODS: A survey containing 22 items assessing demographics, perception, and factors for evaluating faculty was distributed to medical students at our institute. Statistical analyses were conducted using Microsoft Excel and R Software utilizing regression analysis and ANOVA test. RESULTS: The survey received 374 responses consisting of 191 (51.1%) male students and 183 (48.9%) female students. In all, 178 (47.5%) students considered the optimal time for providing faculty evaluation to be after the release of the exam results, compared to 127 (33.9%) students, who chose the after the exam but before the release of exam results option. When asked what happens whenever the tutor is aware about the SETs data, 273 (72.9%) and 254 (67.9%) students believed that it would influence the difficulty of the exam and grading/curving of the exam results, respectively. Better teaching skills (93%, 348), being responsive and open to student feedback and suggestions (84.7%, 317), being committed to class time and schedule (80.1%, 300), and an easier exam (68.6%, 257) were considered important factors to acquire a positive evaluation by a considerable proportion of students. Fewer lectures (P < 0.05), decreased number of slides per lecture (P < 0.01), easier exam (P < 0.05), and giving clues to students about the exam (P < 0.05) were found to be very important to obtain a positive tutor evaluation by students. CONCLUSIONS: Institutions ought to continue exploring areas of improvement in the faculty evaluation process while raising awareness among students about the importance and administrative implications of their feedback.

Cross-cultural prevalence of sleep quality and psychological distress in healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Poor quality sleep and emotional disturbances are expected in times of crisis. COVID-19 has severely impacted healthcare worldwide and with that comes the concern about its effects on healthcare workers. The purpose of the present study was to assess sleep quality and psychological distress in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The present work is a multi-centric cross-sectional study targeting healthcare workers from India, Pakistan, and Nepal. It used an online version of the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index and the General Health Questionnaire, and data were analyzed using SPSS V.24. RESULTS: A total of 1790 participants completed the questionnaire. Of the 1790 participants, 57% reported poor sleep quality, and 10% reported a high level of psychological distress. A cross-cultural comparison found some differences between the different groups of participants. The details of the differences were further explored in the article. CONCLUSION: The present study highlights that a significant proportion of healthcare workers are affected by poor sleep quality and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also emphasizes the imperative to provide them with psychosocial support to avoid potential short- and long-term psychological consequences of these troubling times.