Purpose This study aimed to investigate the overall operational status of medical school admission interview evaluations in South Korea and explore the operational experience of universities conducting interview evaluations.
Methods This study used a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods. Through a nationwide survey and data collection from 39 medical schools, the quantitative analysis explored interview evaluations procedures, the purpose of the interview evaluations, and the competencies expected of medical school freshmen. Concurrently, qualitative data were obtained through focus group discussions with 12 professors from 10 medical schools, providing in-depth insights into the operational experiences and challenges faced during interview evaluations.
Results In the quantitative data, interview evaluations were most prevalent in the “comprehensive school records screening” for rolling admissions (85.5%), but less common in regular admissions (18.6%). Private schools (64.2%) showed a statistically significant higher proportion of interview admissions than public schools (11.1%) in the “high school grades focused admission” (p<0.01). Metropolitan areas (50.0%) conducted interview evaluations more frequently than non-metropolitan areas (11.1%) in the “College Scholastic Ability Test-focused admissions” (p<0.05). In the qualitative data, professors recognize the dominant role of “negative selection” in filtering out unsuitable candidates. Challenges in maintaining a consistent evaluator pool and team-based question development were acknowledged. Strategies, such as seeking student feedback for question improvement and conducting study meetings for interviewer preparation are essential.
Conclusion This study illuminates the operation of admissions interview evaluations in South Korea, revealing variations across regions and admissions types. These findings offer insights for enhancing medical school admission processes, guiding future research and policy.
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Purpose This study assessed the alignment between Korean medical schools’ mission statements (MSs) and Korean Doctor’s Role (KDR) domains, considering school characteristics.
Methods We analyzed the South Korean medical school’s MS characteristics using a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative analysis preprocessed MS text data to identify concept words, while qualitative content analysis categorized information into predefined KDR domains and extracted themes from other parts.
Results At the KDR domain level, “social accountability” was the most frequent, followed by “education and research” and “patient care,” while “professionalism” had the least frequency. At the competency level, the most frequent domains were “involvement in public and global health initiatives,” while “self-regulation based on professional leadership” and “professionalism and self-management” were not present.
Conclusion The study found that the majority of MSs had a homogeneous pattern and included traditional themes. Medical schools should evaluate and incorporate missing elements in their MSs to reflect the institution’s own purpose and current societal needs.
Purpose Team-based learning in medical education facilitates the formation of interpersonal relationships, enhances academic achievement, and establishes future clinical connections. Despite medical schools’ distinct educational environments and curricula, research investigating students’ learning and behavioral characteristics within this context remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the specific characteristics of interpersonal relationship formation among freshmen medical students in team-based learning activities.
Methods Focus group interviews were conducted with 11 students who participated in a team-based class held during the first semester of the premedical year.
Results Medical students passively expressed their thoughts and feelings, such as active sympathy for the team’s opinions and self-censorship of SNS (social networking service) conversations. When performing team activities, students were excessively conscious of others and focused on evenly dividing their work, minimizing their opinions, and fulfilling their share to prevent potential interpersonal conflicts. Interpersonal activities were only superficial, as students intentionally maintained a certain distance from team members or used team activities as an opportunity to accumulate relational capital.
Conclusion The results of this study are expected to provide a useful basis for designing and conducting team activity classes to enhance interpersonal relationship formation.
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Purpose First-year students can form a preconception based on life experiences before entering college and identifying learners’ existing characteristics can be useful foundation data for curriculum development. This study examines what preconceptions freshman students had about medicine before entering medical school.
Methods A total of 110 first-year students were asked about what preconceptions they had about “medicine”. A total of 1,124 data were used in the content analysis method.
Results The results were extracted into 5, and 12 twelve categories. On the theme of “scientific discipline”, the knowledge students had about general health was based on scant expertise and little evidence. Students perceived medicine as Western and scientific, considering Korean traditional medicine as unscientific. Students believed that “medical practice” should be a “disease treatment” and “patient-centered” approach rather than a “social responsibility”. In “the role of the doctor”, students were concerned about the doctor's being financially stable on the positive side, and about the high-intensity workload on the negative side. In “medical education”, students believed that studying medicine would be “hard and difficult” because of the “importance of memorizing” and “extensive study load”. In “specialty stereotype”, students had biases that were mostly concentrated on “psychiatry” and “surgery”
Conclusion Perception of “medicine” has been revealed to a varied range of themes, but some have been inaccurate or unrealistic. These prejudices and groundless beliefs have a gap with the learning outcomes that students should achieve in the curriculum, and these preconceptions seem to have been influenced by South Korea’s unique cultural context.
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Methods To develop the survey items, 20 pre-clerkship students were interviewed about their learning experiences in the first semester of 2020. A total of 425 pre-clerkship students have participated in the survey, which comprised four parts (general experience, learning strategies, important features, and overall satisfaction).
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Conclusion Although pre-clerkship students mostly shared similar perceptions and behaviors in their learning regardless of grade level, some characteristics were either more prominent in premedical students on the whole or limited to first-year premedical students.
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