Theses (Master Of Health Professions Education)

Language, as a form of communication, is crucial for healthcare professionals as they communicate with various stakeholders including patients, patients' families, other healthcare professionals, administrators and students. Hence, it is important for them to have good communication skills, particularly proficiency in English, as English language is widely used in the field of medicine. While literature emphasises the importance of communication and language skills for medical students, there is a gap of knowledge on medical students’ perception on the importance of the English language skills during their medical education, and subsequently to the medical profession. Hence this study intends to explore medical students’ perception of the importance of English language. A qualitative study via focus group method was conducted where medical students were interviewed on their perspectives. A total of 6 sessions of focus groups were conducted, with 24 students. Data obtained were analysed by themes using the Braun and Clarke (2006) thematic analysis framework. Three main areas of the study include the use of English language in medical education, the influence of university culture in English language mastery and the impact of English language proficiency on medical students. Themes coded from the data indicate that medical students perceive English language to be important in 3 aspects, namely English language as a learning tool, a professional language and as a communication tool. Students discussed the availability of university and peer support in their mastery of English language. The study also found that English language proficiency impacts students’ academic progression, communication and personal and professional development. The study concludes that language awareness is important for medical students to deliver high quality patient care as language barriers during patient communication impedes patient care quality.

The study explored the practice of self-regulated learning (SRL) by university students in health professions programmes in an international medical university. Undergraduate students recruited from five different programmes took part in Focus Group Discussions. The data collected were analysed thematically following which three major themes were identified. It emerged that students had different goal orientations and had varied expectations from the university and therefore diverse academic orientations. These factors directed the practice of SRL by the students who applied different personalised study techniques for regulating their learning to reach their goals. Their view on success depended on their personal disposition, their goals and was contextual to their pattern of engagement. The 21st century learners were found not leaning heavily on academic pursuits alone but were equally focused on their self-development in terms of soft skills like communication and networking, leadership, problem-solving etc. and to gain a wholesome university experience. The findings of this study highlight the need for universities to meet the futuristic demands of the current students to acquire the qualities required for the future job market.

The achievement of learning goals in laboratory practicals depends on both extrinsic and intrinsic factors, and could be limited by laboratory time, incurred cost, safety, self-efficacy, inadequate prior preparation by learners and different learning styles. Besides, face to face laboratory sessions could be continuously interrupted as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, virtual laboratory simulation (vLAB) may be an appropriate e-learning tool to overcome these restrictions. In this study, students' perception about the usefulness of vLAB was determined by using DNA gel electrophoresis and PCR as case examples. The perception of Year 2 and 3 health science undergraduate students’ (N=87) was studied using a questionnaire consisting of 12 items, rated on a 5-point Likert-scale. In addition, students experience and learning from the vLAB was further explored using qualitative analysis. Results showed that all participants perceived vLAB well, with a median score of 4(Agree for all items in the questionnaire. It provides a meaningful learning experience and an authentic environment where students feel safe to practice what they have learnt in lectures. Moreover, vLAB facilitates individualised learning and enhances selfefficacy among students. In conclusion, vLAB prepares students for physical laboratory sessions by activating the prehension dimension of the Kolb’s learning cycle, hence complementing and strengthening the attainments of health sciences laboratory learning goals and outcomes.

Introduction Effective communication is an essential skill in a patient-centred doctor-patient-relationship. Although medical graduates acquire communication skills during undergraduate training, these have been shown to be inadequate for their careers. The aim of this study was to close the gap in preparing medical students with patient-centred communication skills in readiness for the workplace for improved patient satisfaction and health outcomes. Methods A phenomenological study design using in-depth individual interviews was conducted on Semester 6 medical students and patients to study their experience in an outpatient department at a primary care clinic over two weeks. Data was transcribed verbatim, analysed, and triangulated with patients’ views on cross-cultural communication with students. Thematic analysis of Braun and Clark was used to analyse data. Results Three themes emerged namely, factors that play a role in communication skills of medical students, and perceived enablers and challenges of communication skills of medical students and patients in the primary care setting. Factors affecting communication skills were language, cultural beliefs, level of maturity and stage in students’ training, and patients’ socio-economic status. Enablers in communications skills includes adopting a biopsychosocial approach by establishing rapport, building trust, showing empathy, ensuring patient’s comfort and respecting their privacy, as well as, engaging in early and continuous experiential learning, using non-verbal communication, and engaging in self-reflection. Challenges faced by both students and patients were patient’s lack of trust in western medicine, students’ difficulty in eliciting sexual history, students’ emphasis on taskorientation, cultural insensitivity, student’s speech anxiety, and patients’ emotional state. Conclusion Results of the study identified the factors, and the enablers and challenges that influenced patient-centred communication skills of medical students in undergraduate training which could close the gap for patient satisfaction and improved health outcomes at the workplace. The study also reiterated the importance of early and continuous experiential in authentic work-based settings.

The Covid-19 pandemic imposes global disruption. Closing of medical schools including all teaching activities and clinical placement is mandatory to reduce the risk of spreading the disease. These sudden changes may have a significant effect on medical students’ well-being. This study aims to explore the challenges faced and coping strategies used by preclinical year medical students during a pandemic. This is a qualitative study involving 11 preclinical year medical students; four international and seven local students. The study, conducted between August 2020 and September 2020 at an international medical university in Malaysia, explored the mental health and well-being challenges the students faced during the pandemic, and their coping strategies. The data were analyzed through thematic analysis to assist in answering the research questions. Multiple challenges contributing to the medical students’ mental health were identified. These included the psychosocial impact of quarantine, significant lifestyle changes, and impact of skills competency and professional progression during a pandemic. The students used behavioral strategies, re-appraised the uncertainties of situation, applied active coping mechanism, and regulated their emotion with coping reserve to manage the challenges during a pandemic. There are indications of personality traits underlying the way medical students choose to cope with challenges faced during pandemic which may either lead to resilience building or experiencing burnout. The findings of the study highlighted the urgent need to develop preventive measures and intervention strategies to address the mental health of medical students to mitigate stress and promote positive well-being.

Background: Learning analytics (LA) is a tool for gathering, analysing, and interpreting the data related to student’s learning behaviour, engagement and performance. As the student data are main sources to construct LA, this study was aimed to explore medical and health professions students’ perceptions on the use and values of LA. Method: A sequential mixed method research design was used in this study. Validated questionnaire was distributed to undergraduate students of Medical, Dentistry and Pharmacy programmes to collect their general perception on LA. Focus group interviews were then arranged to explore their perception in-depth and thematic analysis was performed. Results: The students were aware of their demographic data, utilisation of learning management system and academic performance data being collected by the university. They were agreeable for collection of those data which had direct association with their learning to be used for LA in order to contribute towards improvement of learning experience and environment. However, they had expressed their concerns on their privacy, confidentiality, and security about their data. Five themes emerged from the interview, i.e., outcome-based education, personalised learning and student support, evidence-based decision-making, data management and analysis, and data confidentiality and privacy. Conclusion: LA is a useful tool to promote personalised learning as long as precautions are taken by the education institutions to ensure data privacy and security.

BACKGROUND: Resilience is robustly connected with mental well-being. It has been suggested that possessing resilience can expedite recovery from stressful incidents and act as a preventive measure against mental health issues. Notably, students in health professions programmes experience elevated levels of stress and anxiety due to academic workload and other reasons. This study aimed to investigate the contributing factors influencing the resilience and explore effective support systems that universities can implement to assist undergraduate health professions students in fortifying their resilience and managing their mental health. METHODS: The study was conducted using qualitative method. A total of 28 students from the fields of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and nutrition with dietetics participated in semistructured interviews. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The interviews were stopped when no new theme emerged. The data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach to explore the contributing factors influencing resilience and identify effective support systems. RESULTS: Thematic analysis following the interviews revealed five key themes: life experience, socioeconomic factors, personal attributes, support resources, and role modelling as the contributing factors to resilience. Universities play a key role in fostering health professions students' resilience through soft skills training workshop, workplace-oriented training, mentoring and extracurricular activities. These opportunities allow students to cultivate and enhance their resilience both within formal curriculum settings and through participation in extracurricular endeavors. CONCLUSION: This study provided a comprehensive understanding of contributing factors of students' resilience. The availability of support resources together with a nurturing environment provided by university are essential for the training of healthcare professionals to be adaptive to the demanding and fast changing landscape of healthcare.