ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: During the past decade, the benefits of using portfolios, especially electronic portfolios, were recognized. Due to the lack of using portfolios and especially electronic portfolio in the clinical evaluations of internship training in medical schools of Iran, this study has designed, implemented, and evaluated a comprehensive system for monitoring and evaluating the activities of interns. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a software development study in the three phases of design, implementation, and evaluation. All stages of the project were carried out in the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences during 2019-2020. The software design phase was performed using the Rapid Application Development Methodology (RAD model). In the implementation phase, it was used as a pilot study in the internal department of the medical school. System evaluation was performed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Data were analyzed using the content analysis for qualitative data and descriptive statistical analysis using the SPSS software for quantitative data. RESULTS: In the educational standards survey, in 10 items, the percentage of choosing "perfectly fit" and "fit" was above 90% (high quality). In the technical standards questionnaire, out of 35 items related to software technical quality, eight items were of acceptable quality and 27 of them were partially acceptable. In the Student Satisfaction Questionnaire, in 9 items, interns' satisfaction with the system was high or very high, and in either case, there was little or no dissatisfaction or satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Positive educational effects can be used in all clinical settings if modification and improvement of the software continues, with slight modifications.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: In this study, by using a problem-oriented approach in the needs assessment, identifying the defects and deficiencies in emergency health training centers has been determined as the basis for the requirements. The main objective of the study was the implementation of surgical emergencies integration of the five surgical groups (general surgery, urology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, and ENT) to meet the needs and determining its efficacy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THIS INTERVENTIONAL STUDY WAS CONDUCTED IN THREE PHASES: (1) Phase I (design and planning): Needs assessment, recognition of implementation barriers and providing the objectives and training program for integrated emergencies. (2) Phase II (implementation): Justification of the main stakeholders of the project, preparation of students' duties in the emergency department, preparation of on-duty plans, supervising the implementation of the program, and reviewing the plan in parallel with the implementation based on the problems. (3) Phase III (evaluation): Reviewing the evidences based on the amount of efficiency of the plan and justification for its continuation. In the first and the second phase, the data were collected through holding focus group meetings and interviews. In the third phase, the opened-reply and closed-reply researcher-made questionnaires were used. The questionnaire face and content validity were confirmed by experts and the reliability was assessed by calculating the Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: ACCORDING TO THE VIEWS OF THE INTERNS, ASSISTANTS, TEACHERS, AND EMERGENCY PERSONNEL, THE POSITIVE FEATURES OF THE PLAN INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING: Increasing the patients' satisfaction, reducing the patients' stay in the Emergency Department, increasing the speed of handling the patients, balancing the workloads of the interns, direct training of interns by young teachers of emergency medicine, giving the direct responsibility of the patient to the intern, practical and operational training of emergency issues, increasing the teamwork, facing a variety of patients, practicing the role of general practitioners, role-playing on a real patient's bedside, having a multilateral approach to the patient, reducing the wasting time on minor wards, balancing the work and rest schedules of the interns, and better learning and satisfaction of the interns. Over 60% of the participants believed the program has the following benefits: More attention on the training plan, improving the learning of patient management, being more responsive for the training of interns, increasing operational approach to emergency patients, being more aware of the performed actions, and increasing the quality and speed of services provided to patients. The mean score assigned to the whole questionnaire of investigating the viewpoints was 37.5 out of 50. The mean score of the interns' questionnaire was significantly more than the mean score of the assistants. DISCUSSION: The results obtained indicated that the greatest existing consensus about this plan was the positive impact on the learning of interns in the emergency setting. Thus, it will not only increase the number of patients who the interns are managing during the internship course, but also increases the balance of their workload and they can learn and manage the emergency patients with more leisure.