Postgraduate trainees’ perceptions of the learning environment in a Nigerian teaching hospital

Abstract

Currently, progress report forms are completed annually by the trainers, i.e. specialist physicians and surgeons in the various teaching hospitals, to assess the progress of postgraduate training of junior doctors. At regular intervals, the colleges visit these hospitals to assess the facilities for postgraduate training for the purpose of maintaining the standard of training and re-accreditation of the institution for continued training of junior doctors. The term junior doctor in this regard refers to all cadres of doctors, except specialist physicians or surgeons who are fellows of any of the postgraduate medical colleges. These include senior resident doctors, junior resident doctors, medical officers, senior house officers and house officers. The resident doctors are those undergoing the residency training programme in various specialties to become specialist physicians or surgeons under the supervision of consultants. Medical officers, although not enrolled in the residency training programme, also work under and learn from the specialists. The senior house officers and house officers are junior doctors at different stages of their pre-registration and compulsory supervised training after graduation from medical school. The specialist physicians and surgeons are appointed as consultants in the teaching hospitals to consult and oversee the training of junior doctors. To date, these assessments only focused on the trainees' progress and did not take into consideration their perceptions of the trainers and other components in the environment in which they work, and how these affect their learning. The learning environment or educational environment has been considered to encompass physical (safety, food, shelter, comfort), emotional (security, feedback from trainers, absence of bullying and harassment) and intellectual (learning with patients, relevance to practice, evidence-based, active participation by learners) aspects.

Medical students' perceptions of the educational environment in a private medical school in southwest Nigeria

“…In a study by Idon et al . [ 14 ] on the perceptions of dental students on the educational environment in a new dental school in Maiduguri, Nigeria, the total mean DREEM score was 138.2/200 which is higher than that of this study. This could be due to the fact that the dental school is still new with new functional facilities.…”

Evaluation of the anaesthetic theatre educational environment at the University of the Witwatersrand

“…16 The medical and educational literature has shown that the quality of the educational environment plays a role in effective learning, 16 quality training 7,8 career satisfaction, 17,18 academic achievements, 18,19 burnout rates, 20 and the levels of engagement and motivation. [21][22][23] Anaesthesiology registrars spend most of their time in theatre, and this is a unique educational environment in which most of their training occurs. The ATEEM is a specific instrument for the measurement of the anaesthetic theatre educational environment.…”

A Survey of Perceptions of Surgical Trainees on Feedback During Training in West Africa

“…Progress report forms are completed annually by the trainers to assess the progress of postgraduate training of surgical residents. However, feedback from trainee is usually sought when the colleges visit these hospitals for accreditation or re‐accreditation of the institution for continued postgraduate training [14].…”