Comparing the Familiarity of the Basic and Clinical Faculty Members of Iran University of Medical Sciences with the Principles of Digital Professionalism.

Background: Due to the changing conditions of education, research, and treatment in the world, especially the recent pandemic, and more use of virtual space, there is a need for evaluation of digital professionalism in faculty members as the most influential people who have a direct and deep impact on the next generation. Methods: In this analytical cross-sectional study that was conducted in 2023 on 149 faculty members of Iran University of Medical Sciences, they were invited to participate in the study through various methods (SMS, E-mail, and media messages). The link to the Persian standardized questionnaire was made available for participants. If a person received less than 70% of the score in each area, he/she would receive solutions to improve his/her situation in that area at the end of answering the questions. The self-administered questionnaire has 5 fields and 33 questions. Maximum scores were 10 points. Spearman and Pearson correlation coefficients and statistical tests consisting of chi-square, t-test, Mann-Whitney U, one-way ANOVA, and Kruskal-Wallis H were used in the analysis. Results: The mean overall score of people in principles of digital professionalism was 0.8. Women and basic sciences faculties had a significantly better status than men and clinical faculties in the principles of digital professionalism as a whole (P = 0.001 and P = 0.049, respectively). The domain of "knowledge management and information literacy" had significantly lower scores in professors in comparison with other degree (instructors, assistant professors, and associate professors (P = 0.039). Conclusion: The mean score of the principles of digital professionalism is acceptable at 80%. Coherent, timely, and up-to-date training to ensure the effective, safe and appropriate use of digital technology, especially for men, professors and clinical faculty members who had a lower score than others, should be done.

A psychometric evaluation of inter-professional education competency tool in nursing and medicine students.

INTRODUCTION: Collaboration between nurses and doctors is necessary for offering care to patients. Using team performance assessment tools and surveying them can be effective in promoting inter-professional collaboration, and the lack of a credible tool to assess inter-professional collaboration competency between the two groups is a major challenge in the healthcare sector. The present study aimed to translate and conduct a psychometric investigation on the inter-professional education collaboration (IPEC) tool for the students of medicine and nursing. METHODS: The present study was a cross-sectional one conducted as a psychometric investigation of the IPEC tool at the Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2022. The initial tool contained 42 items developed according to a 5-point Likert scale, which was translated into Persian with the consent of the original researcher. The validity index and the content validity ratio were investigated by a panel of 11 specialists in medical and clinical education, and its construct validity was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis. Also, the second population of the study included medical and nursing students of Iran University of Medical Sciences and simple random sampling method. Moreover, the reliability of the instrument was investigated using internal consistency, Cronbach's Alpha, and test-retest methods. RESULTS: Based on the indicators calculated to perform a psychometric investigation over the above tool, it had acceptable reliability and validity according to the specialists. The tool evaluates inter-professional collaboration competency between the students of medicine and nursing across four areas (values and ethics, roles and responsibilities, inter-professional communication, and team-based care and teamwork). Moreover, Cronbach's Alpha coefficient for the tool was determined at 0.84. CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that the above tool could evaluate inter-professional competency as a valid and reliable questionnaire, and its results could be utilized in planning and education.

Effectiveness of nursing virtual training courses based on the Kirkpatrick Model.

BACKGROUND: Educational evaluation is one of the most significant programs of any organization. In fact, evaluating training effectiveness allows managers and staff of the organization to get a clear picture of the qualities of training activities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate virtual nursing intensive care training courses at Shariati Hospital based on the Kirkpatrick Model in 2020. METHODS AND MATERIAL: The current cross-sectional study is an evaluation of the outcome-oriented program to evaluate the results of the e-learning course on nursing intensive care at Shariati Teaching Hospital from March 20, 2020 to September 20, 2020. The total number of nurses working in intensive wards was 168, of whom 150 participated in this research study with convenience sampling. The data collection tool consisted of four-part questionnaires including demographic information and three levels of the Kirkpatrick Model. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 34.41 ± 6.63 years. The mean score of participant satisfaction was 76.77, indicating that they showed good reaction to virtual training courses. Virtual training course for intensive care nurses was statistically significant at the levels of learning (P < 0.0001) and behavior (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Virtual training courses are effective educational method based on three levels of Kirkpatrick's Model in intensive care nurses and it can be used along with traditional training approaches.

The Trends of Attitude Change and Interprofessional Collaboration Competencies among Medical and Nursing Students of Iran University of Medical Sciences.

Background: Nurses' and physicians' collaboration is a precedent for patient care. This study examined attitude change and interprofessional collaboration competencies among medical and nursing students of Iran University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This study was quantitative cross-sectional. The study tools were two questionnaires, Attitudes Toward Interprofessional Education and IPEC Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies, which were completed by 211 medical and nursing students in online or in-person forms. The collected quantitative data were analyzed by SPSS 19 software. Results: The results showed that nurses and physicians constituted 35.5% and 64.5% of the sample. The results of the independent T-test displayed no statistically significant difference in the mean age of both groups (P = 0.054). There was a statistically significant difference in the participants' attitudes toward interprofessional learning, and the medical group (46.68) obtained a higher mean score than the nurse group (34.92) (P = 0.001). The two groups with varying mean scores (179.34 for medical students and 131.72 for nursing students) were significantly different in their interpersonal collaboration competencies (P = 0.001). Considering Mauchly's test, there were statistically significant differences among medical students of varying academic years in their attitudes toward interprofessional education (P < 0.001). Nursing students were also different in their attitudes toward interprofessional education based on their academic years. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the attitude of nursing students towards interprofessional education and interpersonal collaboration competencies should be increased in line with medical students in order to improve the quality of medical and health services.

Exploring the challenges and ethical requirements of medical sciences education during COVID-19: a qualitative study.

The controversial role of ethics in clinical education and its ability to draw the attention of a large audience is inevitable. The issues and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have transformed the clinical education environment. This study was conducted to explore the challenges and ethical requirements of medical sciences education during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The study was qualitative research and the instrument was a semi-structured interview. The participants included faculty members of the basic and clinical Sciences at Iran University of Medical Sciences. After 16 rounds of interviews, theoretical saturation was achieved. Qualitative data were analysed using conventional content analysis, which resulted in 81 preliminary codes and 28 sub-categories. Finally, two themes of "ethical challenges" and "ethical requirements", and 10 categories were achieved. The categories were consisted of "being patient-centred", "social accountability of curriculums", "ethical challenges of the clinical environment", "the poor performance of the clinical faculty members and students", "being justice-centred", "raising awareness", "observing clinical research ethics", "preservation and promotion of mental health", "patient confidentiality", and "respect for individuals". We hope the ethical challenges in medical education that were created due to the emergence of Covid-19 can be reduced and eliminated by defining a framework for ethical requirements.

Challenges to the Implementation of Interprofessional Education in Health Profession Education in Iran.

BACKGROUND: Changes in the structure and nature of health care highlight the need for better collaboration between professions focusing on patient or health-care users. Interprofessional education (IPE) has attracted a lot of attention at the international level, and its positive consequences in different areas of health care have been investigated and approved. This study explored the opinions and viewpoints of professors and experts regarding the challenges to the implementation of interprofessional education in health profession education in Iran in 2018. METHODS: This qualitative study was conducted with 15 IPE professors and experts using semi-structured interviews. We used an inductive approach to content analysis as developed by Elo et al. The interviews were analyzed using Graneheim and Lundman method by MAXQDA software version 12. RESULTS: The main challenges to the implementation of IPE were categorized into educational system, structural and cultural challenges. The educational challenges were the professors' lack of ability, a non-flexible and single-disciplined curriculum, and weaknesses in the current education. The professors and experts felt that the most important structural challenges included centralism, hierarchy of power, poor educational groundwork, and lack of support of organizations. Cultural challenges mainly related to the attitudes of managers, professors, and even students regarding IPE and the need for change. CONCLUSION: Designing and implementing IPE in Iran face major challenges. Cultural and attitude issues were the greatest challenges to be addressed in the context of implementing IPE in health-care education.

Determination and Comparison of the Factors Related to Effective Blended Learning in Medical Sciences from the Viewpoints of Instructors and Learners.

INTRODUCTION: According to rapid growth of innovation in use of technologies in education and learning, blended learning has become an effective method in the student's education. The purpose of this study was to extract the factors related to effective blended learning and compare the viewpoints of students and instructors in this regard. METHODS: Mixed method model was used in this study. A content analysis approach was employed in the qualitative phase of the study. Seven faculty members and eight master's students of medical sciences selected through purposive sampling participated in the qualitative phase. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection. In the quantitative phase, appropriate and relevant items were designed based on the main concepts of theoretical and practical definitions that were extracted in the qualitative phase. RESULTS: The results of the qualitative phase were 5 categories and 40 subcategories, including student's capabilities, teacher merits, technological aspects, pedagogic topics and supportive environment. DISCUSSION: The results of the questionnaire analysis showed no significant difference in student capabilities and supportive environment between the viewpoints of students and faculty members while there were significant differences in other categories. Although new technologies have offered promising opportunities, they do not result in effective education. The results of the present study suggest that a major revision in student and instructor admission and provision of required technical facilities can promote the status of this type of education. On the other hand, instructor empowerment programs in this field can enhance the effectiveness of virtual education.

Attitudes toward Telling the Truth to Cancer Patients in Iran: A Review Article.

Background:Patients generally have the right to be informed of their condition, but the debate over the issue of truth disclosure is still present. The attempt of this study is to review the approaches toward truth- telling to cancer patients in Iran. Materials and Methods: This study is a narrative review that included articles published in Iran on attitudes toward telling the truth to cancer patients. The present study extracted data from articles published in PubMed, Science Direct, Scientific Information Database (SID), Magiran, Iran Medex, Google Scholar, Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology with key terms such as truth disclosure, breaking bad news, death awareness and disclosure of diagnosis without any time restriction. Results: Totally, 21 articles including 14 in English and 7 in Persian were selected and reviewed. The results of the study have shown that although treatment team and caregivers are unwilling to disclose the truth to patients, they have a tendency to obtain more information about their disease. Conclusion: As the incidence of cancer has increased worldwide, telling the truth to patients seeking more information about cancer disease would be inevitable, but more studies are required to provide scientific procedures based on evidence for truth disclosure, not the whole, to cancer patients.