What are the benefits of simulation training with simulated patients? / 医学教育

Introduction: Consultation simulation with simulated patients has rarely been done as a training program.<br>Method: Fifth-year medical students in 2 neighboring universities attended the same training program at each site. The students’ performance was evaluated.<br>Result: Most medical students thought that this training program was valuable and that they require more opportunity to practice. Students evaluated their own performance in both medical procedures and differential diagnosis as being poor. However, about 50% of students felt that they paid careful attention to the simulated patient during physical examination. Students thought that the consultation was extremely realistic and that the series of medical procedures they performed at the first attempt was extremely difficult but increased their motivation. They thought that the feedback they received from simulated patients was beneficial.<br>Discussion: This education program is highly regarded by students and is suggested to be versatile.

Construction of Yanegawara-style skills training in our clinical skills laboratory for new residents / 医学教育

1）To learn the techniques required immediately after the start of clinical practice, new residents were introduced to the skills laboratory during their orientation period.<br>2）We attempted to establish the Yanegawara style, which is an overlapping teaching style in which the second–year residents plan the entire training schedule and simultaneously teach the first–year residents while being supported in their teaching by more senior physicians.<br>3）Training with the new system resulted in greater rapport among all residents as well as a greater feeling of security among first–year residents.

Establishment of "Fujita–style" problem–based learning with an emphasis on the use of a monitoring room to support tutors / 医学教育

1)We reproduced a problem–based learning (PBL) tutorial at our school and developed our own PBL tutorial, which we call "Fujita–style PBL." This is a clinical problem-solving type of PBL, in which both a monitoring room and small–group learning rooms are used.<br>2)To maintain the present number of PBL lessons despite the limited number of tutors, one tutor supervises several groups simultaneously. Coordinators observe the progress of PBL from a monitoring room and support the tutors.<br>3)Students learn the given scenario and identify their learning issues. After they study the learning issues by themselves, the students return to tutorials to explain their learning issues. Thereafter, each group's findings are presented to the groups supervised by one tutor.

Surveys to assess the attitudes of medical students about learning / 医学教育

In the present study, surveys regarding the philosophy of learning were administered just after the entrance ceremony to all students entering the Fujita Health University School of Medicine in 2005 and then, once more, to the same students during the last term of the fourth year, so that the data could be subsequently analyzed. The 87 fourth-year students who completed the surveys were divided into 3 groups(top, middle, and bottom thirds)on the basis of their examination scores in the previous years. <br>1) Results of the fourth-year survey suggested that students in the middle or bottom third did not develop a "learning-centered campus lifestyle" during their 4 years of medical studies, although the first-year survey indicated that most students in all 3 thirds had desired such a lifestyle.<br>2) The image of a physician had changed somewhat for students in middle or bottom third but not for students in the top third.<br>3) Attendance rates in all years of medical study were lower for students in the bottom third than for students in the middle or top third. Moreover, the motivation to study and attend lectures showed a downward trend over time for students in the bottom third.

What factors affect examination results after admission?: Research at the Fujita Health University School of Medicine / 医学教育

At the Fujita Health University School of Medicine, about 30% of medical students are admitted on the basis of recommendations.To evaluate the performance of these students after admission, a placement test was given to all new students just after the entrance ceremony to examine basic academic abilities.The scores were compared with the number of absences from lectures and with examination results for the first and second years.<BR>1) The 398 students admitted from 2002 through 2005 were classified into three populations: 126 recommended students, 137 students who scored in the top half on the entrance examination, and 135 students who scored in the bottom half.<BR>2) Scores on the placement test were highest for the top-half students, intermediate for the bottom-half students, and lowest for the recommended students.Scores on examinations in the first and second years were highest for the top-half students, intermediate for the recommended students, and lowest for the bottom-half students.<BR>3) The average number of absences from lectures in the first and second years tended to be lower for recommended students than for the top-half or bottom-half students.<BR>4) The examination scores in the second year were correlated with scores in the first year, and the average number of absences in the second year correlated with those in the first year.<BR>5) These results indicate that the motivation of students in each classification to study in the 1st year is, in addition to their basic academic abilities obtained in high school, an important factor affecting their performance in the second year and beyond.

Fatigue among Medical Students in a Trial of Computer-based Testing for Common Achievement Tests / 医学教育

We investigated the degree of fatigue among medical students during the second trial of the Common Achievement Tests, which use a computer-based testing (CBT) method. A revised questionnaire for subjective fatigue symptoms proposed by the Industrial Fatigue Research meeting of the Japan Society for Occupational Health was used to examine the degree of fatigue. The CBT examinee group (n=41) sat for the examination for 6 hours using video display terminals. Significant changes were seen in 19 of the 25 items for subjective symptoms. At the end of the test period, significant differences between the CBT examinee group and the lecture participant group (n=50) were found for 15 of the items for subjective symptoms. Subjective symptoms were classified into 5 categories: sleepiness, instability, displeasure, feeling languid, and blurred vision. In the CBT examinee group, rates of symptoms increased significantly in all 5 categories. The increase in the rate of “blurred vision” was especially marked.