Advances in Medical Education and Practice (May 2024)

Assessing the Learning Environment Perception Among Medical Students at a Tertiary Referral Hospital in Saudi Arabia

  • Al Mairi M,
  • Youssef Y,
  • Alhamshari A,
  • Alkhatib R,
  • Koujan H,
  • Alkhabaz A,
  • Szabo A

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 15
pp. 461 – 471

Abstract

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Mohammed Al Mairi, Yasmin Youssef, Ahmad Alhamshari, Radwan Alkhatib, Hamzah Koujan, Anas Alkhabaz, Aniko Szabo Department of Anatomy and Genetics, College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Aniko Szabo, Department of Anatomy and Genetics, College of Medicine, Alfaisal University Takhassusi Street, Riyadh, 11533, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Email [email protected]: To assess the perception of medical students at Alfaisal University College of Medicine (AUCOM) of their learning environment at a referral-based tertiary hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Methods: The validated Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire was administered to all year 4 and year 5 students during the academic year 2020– 2021. Scores were analyzed using the descriptors provided by the questionnaire developers and compared across different students’ cohorts using SPSS.Results: The overall DREEM score was 120.45/200, which can be described as a “more positive than negative environment”, indicating a positive perception with a potential for improvement. All domain scores were on the positive side except the “students’ social self-perception” which had a score indicating a problematic area. Female students had a statistically significant more positive score in the domain “students’ perception of learning” than male students. Scores for individual questions were persistently on the positive side except for eight questions that pointed to problematic areas in the curriculum. When compared between student cohorts, five questions had statistically significant difference in scores between students in both academic years, but only two of those had scores indicating concerning areas.Conclusion: Referral-based tertiary hospitals can be perceived positively by students as a learning environment in undergraduate medical education. We identified some areas of concern in our curriculum to be targeted by future research.Keywords: clinical training, DREEM, referral hospital, Saudi Arabia, tertiary hospital

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