Facilitating Early Departure from Examination Rooms to Alleviate Congestion Among Medical Students
10.11307/mededjapan.54.6_549
- VernacularTitle:卒前医学教育試験の動線上密集回避のための早期退室の是非
- Author:
Osamu NOMURA
1
;
Yuki SOMA
2
;
Hiroshi KIJIMA
3
;
Hiroyuki HANADA
1
Author Information
1. Hirosaki University, Department of Health Sciences Education
2. Hirosaki University, Centre for Community-based Health Professions Education
3. Hirosaki University, Faculty of Education
- Keywords:
undergraduate medical education;
test;
early exit from a test room
- From:Medical Education
2023;54(6):549-553
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
-
Abstract:
Background: The management of medical student examinations has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating measures to prevent overcrowding at the entry/exit flow line of the examination room. Specifically, one method to mitigate congestion at the examination room exit is to allow students to leave early after completing their exams.Methods: This study utilized the regular final examination in emergency medicine for fourth-year medical students at Hirosaki University. Students were permitted to leave the room early, up until 20 minutes before the 60-minute examination period concluded. We included 130 participants in the study and conducted a multiple logistic regression analysis with the test score (higher (1) or lower (0) than the average score) as the dependent variable and the presence or absence of early withdrawal, gender, bachelor transfer status, and regional quota student status as independent variables.Results: Of the 130 fourth-year medical students included in the study, 14 (10.8%) left the exam room early. The multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that bachelor transfer students (odds ratio (OR) = 4.20, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.24-14.18) and female students (OR = 2.56, 95%CI 1.24-5.25) tended to achieve statistically significantly higher scores. However, early leavers (OR = 1.78, 95%CI 0.53-5.95) and regional quota students (OR = 1.72, 95%CI 0.78-3.78) did not exhibit a significant association with the highest scores.Discussion: We found that there is no significant association between early exit of medical students and exam scores in our emergency medicine examinations. Therefore, implementing early dismissal can be justified as a measure to ensure a smooth flow of students when leaving the room.
