PURPOSE: This study analyzed the perceptions of medical students and faculty regarding disclosure of test items on the Korean medical licensing examination. METHODS: I conducted a survey of medical students from medical colleges and professional medical schools nationwide. Responses were analyzed from 718 participants as well as 69 faculty members who participated in creating the medical licensing examination item sets. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the chi-square test. RESULTS: It is important to maintain test quality and to keep the test items unavailable to the public. There are also concerns among students that disclosure of test items would prompt increasing difficulty of test items (48.3%). Further, few students found it desirable to disclose test items regardless of any considerations (28.5%). The professors, who had experience in designing the test items, also expressed their opposition to test item disclosure (60.9%). CONCLUSION: It is desirable not to disclose the test items of the Korean medical licensing examination to the public on the condition that students are provided with a sufficient amount of information regarding the examination. This is so that the exam can appropriately identify candidates with the required qualifications.
*Attitude ; *Disclosure ; *Education, Medical ; *Educational Measurement ; *Faculty, Medical ; Humans ; Information Dissemination ; *Licensure, Medical ; Perception ; Physicians/standards ; Republic of Korea ; *Students, Medical

No abstract available.

PURPOSE: This study aims to estimate the optimal educational cost per medical student. METHODS: A private medical college in Seoul was targeted by the study, and its 2006 learning environment and data from the 2003~2006 budget and settlement were carefully analyzed. Through interviews with 3 medical professors and 2 experts in the economics of education, the study attempted to establish the educational cost estimation model, which yields an empirically computed estimate of the optimal cost per student in medical college. RESULTS: The estimation model was based primarily upon the educational cost which consisted of direct educational costs (47.25%), support costs (36.44%), fixed asset purchases (11.18%) and costs for student affairs (5.14%). These results indicate that the optimal cost per student is approximately 20,367,000 won each semester; thus, training a doctor costs 162,936,000 won over 4 years. Consequently, we inferred that the tuition levels of a local medical college or professional medical graduate school cover one quarter or one-half of the per- student cost. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study do not necessarily imply an increase in medical college tuition; the estimation of the per-student cost for training to be a doctor is one matter, and the issue of who should bear this burden is another. For further study, we should consider the college type and its location for general application of the estimation method, in addition to living expenses and opportunity costs.
Budgets ; Humans ; Learning ; Students, Medical ; Ursidae

The aim of this article is to identify roadblocks prohibiting effective education of medical students in the basic sciences and then propose strategies for designing and implementing a better curriculum in the basic sciences that remove the roadblocks thereby increasing the relevance to students' clinical experiences in medical training. Traditionally, the medical student experiences basic science education in a setting where there is little or no communication between the basic science and clinical science professors, where basic science content is given with very little clinical context, while clinical training does not enhance understanding of the scientific foundation for clinical practice. Herein, we re-address the purpose of basic science education proposing the concept of 'transfer' as a bridge to connect the basic and clinical science education. We also propose a continuing education program for staff development in the successful implementation of these proposals.
Curriculum ; Education, Continuing ; Humans ; Schools, Medical ; Staff Development ; Students, Medical

No abstract available.

The purpose of this study is to review communication skills education in medical education. This analysis looks at the reasons why communication skills education is difficult and how to design an effective curriculum for communication skills education. Problems in communication skills education are discussed, especially in relation to the complexity of the communication between patients and physicians, the changing of the communication model, and curriculum composition. Findings show that it is necessary to design a spiral curriculum for communication skills education, to harmonize theory and practice of communication, to encourage student participation, and to provide feedback to students. To educate communication skills, this paper concludes, professors in charge of communication skills education must seriously consider their teaching and evaluating methods and practice what they teach.
Curriculum ; Education, Medical ; Fees and Charges ; Humans ; Learning

PURPOSE: This study analyzed the characteristics of excellent lecturers, as perceived by medical students, and identified the teaching competency that lecturers should possess to enhance the quality of medical education in medical school. METHODS: To examine the characteristics of excellent lecturers and teaching competency, we administered open-ended questionnaires to a sample of 128 Year 2 medical students in May 2011. RESULTS: The students placed high value on the ability to organize and summarize the lecture as the most significant competence of lecturers, due to the massive amounts of information that is disseminated in medical college. Further, they chose lecturers who communicated to students actively and used real clinical cases properly with regard to how medical knowledge applied. They also considered generating an interest in learning by linking knowledge and its application as an important priority of excellent lecturers. CONCLUSION: We conclude that there are differences in the characteristics and competencies of excellent lecturers, as perceived by medical students and others. To increase the quality of teaching, it might be necessary to offer the opportunity to observe excellent lecturers, develop faculty development programs, and create educational culture.
Education, Medical ; Humans ; Learning ; Medical Staff ; Mental Competency ; Schools, Medical ; Students, Medical ; Teaching ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Despite the importance of how the premedical education curriculum is organized, the basic direction of the curriculum has not been evaluated at a fundamental level. In order to explore the basic directions of the premedical education curriculum, this study examined medical education as a university education, the historical basis of premedical education, and the direction of the premedical education curriculum. Historically, as medical education was incorporated into the university education system, premedical education developed based on basic science and liberal arts education. Accordingly, the direction of the premedical education curriculum began to split into two approaches: one believing in a basic science-based education intended to serve as the foundation of medical training, and the other believing in a liberal arts-based education intended to cultivate the qualities of a doctor. In recent years, however, the binary division in the direction of premedical education has ceased to exist, and the paradigm has now shifted to an agreement that premedical education must cultivate the basic scientific competence required for learning medical knowledge as well as the social qualities that a doctor should have, which are cultivated through the liberal arts. Furthermore, it has been asserted that the direction of premedical education should move toward the qualities that will be required in the future. With the fourth industrial revolution underway, the role of doctors is now being re-examined. This means that today's medical education must change in a future-oriented way, and the direction of the premedical education curriculum must be on the same page.
Curriculum ; Education ; Education, Medical ; Education, Premedical ; Humanities ; Learning ; Mental Competency

PURPOSE: This study aims to analyze the competency of medical students and its relevance for admission policy in medical schools. METHODS: This study examined the competency of 63 medical students from the 6-year program (group A) and 41 medical students from the 4-year program (group B) at Yonsei University using the Korea Collegiate Essential Skills Assessment (KCESA). The competency of groups A and B were compared to the corresponding competency levels of non-medical students (groups C and D). Group C is freshmen and D is senior students in universities. The KCESA is computer-based ability test composed of 228 items. The competency of participants were calculated on a T-scores (mean=50, standard deviation=10) based on KCESA norm-references. We conducted independent t-test for group comparisons of competency levels. RESULTS: There are no differences in competency levels between groups A and B. Compared with the non-medical students (group B), the medical students showed a significantly stronger ability to use resources, information-technology and higher-order thinking. In the comparison between groups B and D, medical students showed lower levels of self-management, interpersonal, and cooperative skills. CONCLUSION: The cognitive ability serves as an important indicator for the decision on admission to a basic medical education program. The efforts should be made to foster the competency that medical students have been found to lack, such as self-management, interpersonal, and cooperative skills. The admission committee should assess the cognitive and non-cognitive competency of applicants in a balanced manner.
Competency-Based Education ; Education, Medical ; Humans ; Korea ; Republic of Korea ; School Admission Criteria ; Schools, Medical ; Self Care ; Students, Medical ; Thinking

According to the World Health Organization, for medical schools to fulfill their obligation of social accountability, it is necessary for medical education, research, and service areas to ref lect the healthcare system’s relevance, quality, cost-effectiveness, and equity. This study utilized Boelen and Heck’s (1995) social accountability grid model to analyze the degree to which the Accreditation Standards of Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation 2019 (ASK2019) standards apply the World Federation for Medical Education’s (WFME) standards. The social accountability characteristics of the former were compared to those of the WFME, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, and the Australian Medical Council. Experts with experience and certification in medical education and evaluation classified the ASK2019 standards according to the grid model, evaluated social accountability perspectives, and categorized them according to the process, content, and outcome. Of the 92 standards, 61 (66.30%) were selected as social accountability standards; these encompassed all areas. There was a particular focus on outcome-related areas, such as “mission and outcomes,” “student assessment,” “educational evaluation,” and “continuous improvement.” Education and quality were the most common (33, 54.11%), followed by 18 standards related to education and relevance. However, the standards on cost effectiveness and equity corresponding to education, research, and service were significantly insufficient. As a result of classification using a logic model, many criteria were incorporated into the process, producing results similar to those of international accreditation institutions. Therefore, to fulfill medical schools’ social accountability, it is necessary to develop cost effectiveness and equity standards with reference to grid models and expand them beyond education to include research and service areas. Developing content and outcome standards is also required.