Student centered curricular elements are associated with a healthier educational environment and lower depressive symptoms in medical students

Abstract

BackgroundAny curriculum change is essentially an environmental change; therefore there is a need to assess the impact of any change in the curriculum on the students’ perception of the Educational Environment (EE) and psychological well-being. The objectives of the current study are to (i) compare the EE perceptions of medical students studying in a System Based Curriculum (SBC) with those studying in a traditional curriculum (ii) compare the rate of depressive symptoms among the same students studying in both types of curricula (iii) determine whether there is a difference in the EE perception and depressive symptoms based on gender and year of study.MethodsA cross sectional survey was conducted in a Saudi Medical School from 2007-2011, a period in which the school transitioned from a traditional to a SBC. A bilingual version of the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) inventory was used for measuring the EE; the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI II) was used for screening of depressive symptoms. A separate demographic questionnaire was also used. Mean scores and percentages were calculated. Continuous variables were summarized as means and standard deviation. For comparison of means, the effect size and student t test (with significance level of <0.05) were used. The percentages of the categorical data were compared using chi square test.ResultsThe mean total DREEM score of positive perception of the EE in the SBC students was significantly higher (better) than the traditional curriculum students (p < 0.01) with an effect size of 0.472. The mean total score on the BDI-II inventory for depressive symptoms was higher (sicker) 21.3 among the female traditional curriculum students than 16.7 among the male traditional curriculum students and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.001). The BDI score of the female SBC students (14.7) was significantly lower (healthier) than the female traditional curriculum students (21.3). No similar change was noted for the male students.ConclusionThe current study adds to the advantages of the SBC indicating not only healthier EE for both genders but also healthier emotional well-being for female students only.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1472-6920-14-192) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Effectiveness of universal programmes for the prevention of suicidal ideation, behaviour and mental ill health in medical students: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…There was no evidence of a treatment effect in favour of curriculum-based interventions on the proportion reporting symptoms of depression by the postintervention assessment in a single study (OR 0.11, 95% CI 0.01 to 1.79; one study)34 or by the longest follow-up assessment in another single study (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.47 to 1.38; one study) 35…”

Comparing student and staff perceptions of the “Educational Climate” in Spanish Dental Schools using the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure

“…Of these significant items, only 11 items had a better score in the students: four from the Academic subscale (items 5, 10, 26 and 31) and four from the Social subscale (items 14, 15, 28 and 46). The remaining 34 items were better valued by the teachers and were essentially educational aspects associated with the subscales of Learning (items: 7,13,16,20,22,24,25,44,48), Teachers (items: 6,8,9,18,29,32,37,39,40) and Atmosphere (items: 11,12,17,23,30,33,34,42,43,49; Table 2). The remaining five items in which the assessments of the students and teachers were similar (without statistically significant differences) were items 2, 27, 35, 38 and 50.…”

“…The DREEM questionnaire is composed of 50 closed questions that aim to identify students’ perceptions of five aspects of the educational environment: learning; teaching; academic self‐perceptions; atmosphere; and social self‐perceptions. The DREEM has been used to: identify the strengths and weaknesses of educational environments; compare different medical education institutions; monitor changes at times of curriculum reform; compare students at different stages of a course; evaluate differences by gender and educational background; and compare the perceptions of students and staff …”

“…identify the strengths and weaknesses of educational environments; 25 compare different medical education institutions; 18,29 monitor changes at times of curriculum reform; 30 compare students at different stages of a course; 10,29,31 evaluate differences by gender 25,29,31,32 and educational background; 25 and compare the perceptions of students and staff. 28 Other tools have been designed for the analysis of the EC in Dentistry.…”

Üniversitede okuyan kız öğrencilerde depresyon prevalansı ve ilişkili faktörler

“…Kadın cinsiyetinde olmak depresyon nedenleri arasında sıralanan diğer bir psikososyal faktördür. Literatürde depresyonun kadınlarda erkeklere göre daha fazla görüldüğü belirtilmektedir 1,[11][12][13][14][15][16][23][24][25] Bu araştırmanın amacı, Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi sağlık kampüsünde sağlık ile ilgili alanlarda öğrenime yeni başlayan kız öğrencilerde depresyon prevalansını belirlemek ve bireysel, sosyodemografik ve sağlıkla ilişkili faktörlerin depresyonla ilişkisini araştırmaktır. Depresyon prevalansını aile öyküsü, sosyal ve ekonomik düzey, yaşanan yer, üniversitenin özellikleri ve bireysel özellikler gibi pek çok değişken etkileyebilmektedir 1,18,19,22 .…”