Conference Papers
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/6561
This collection contains abstracts of conference papers, presented at local and international conferences by the staff of the Faculty of Medicine
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Item Exploring the impact of student-led peer assisted learning (‘kuppi classes’) on examination performance and mental, social and emotional development of medical students of a Sri Lankan medical school(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2017) Chandrasekara, S.; Bandara, H.; Chandrasiri, N.; Choden, T.; Chandratilake, M.INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES: Peer-assisted-learning (PAL) is the acquisition of knowledge and skills through active helping and supporting among status equals or matched companions. In ‘kuppi classes’, a local term for an informal form of PAL, students of a junior batch learn from students of a senior batch in a didactic manner. The aims of this study were: to explore the educational environment and the reasons for attending kuppi classes; to determine the correlation between attendance of kuppi classes and student performance at examinations. METHODS: The study focused on kuppi classes for preclinical subjects, the student experience of the first two years, and their performance at the second-year summative examination. Two focus group discussions were carried out with 14 medical students to identify the breadth of the issues related to each objective. The transcriptions were thematically analysed and a selfadministered questionnaire was developed based on these themes. It was administered to 178 third-year medical students. RESULTS: The qualitative component revealed that the learning environment in kuppi classes were much more relaxed and acceptable compared to formal teaching sessions. According to the questionnaire, the main reason for attendance is as a backup for formal lectures. For the tutoring student it is a revision. The attendees expect kuppi classes to be more examination oriented. However, the association between kuppi attendance and subsequent examination performance was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Didactic and informal near-peer-learning sessions may provide students with the conducive social and emotional environment to learn. However, it may not have an impact on examination performance.Item Perceptions of Sri Lankan medical students on selecting and pursuing medicine as a career(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2017) Karunaratne, D.R.INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES: Although the choice of pursuing medicine as a career has long been a topic of interest, the rapidly changing socioeconomic environment warrants a revisit. This study explored the current factors which influence this choice among medical students. METHODS: A mixed-method study was conducted among first and fourth year students in the Faculties of Medicine of universities of Kelaniya, Colombo and Sri Jayewardenepura. The perceptions of 30 medical students were explored using focus group discussions. The contents were thematically analysed to develop a valid self-administered questionnaire, which was given to 364 medical students. The responses were analysed both descriptively and inferentially. RESULTS: A total of 63.5% respondents were females and 44% were first-year students. The foremost reason for selecting medicine was to help people (mean= 2.28). The least important reason was parental pressure (mean=1.5). A/L marks (mean=2.19), social status of being a doctor (mean=1.74), job guarantee (mean=1.83) and self-interest (mean=1.98) were ranked in between. The regret of choosing medicine as a career was higher among females (p=0.035) and fourth-year students than their counterparts. The reasons appeared to be the stressfully high workload and external political issues in medical education. The interest on postgraduate studies was higher among 1st A/L attempt entrants than 3rd A/L attempt entrants (p=0.011); the interest appeared to grow along the course. CONCLUSION: Choosing medicine still has an altruistic preponderance. However, a regret of selecting medicine appears to grow along the course. The desire to pursue postgraduate studies is more if entered to medical school in the 1st attempt.