Informing the medical education reform in Tajikistan: evidence on the learning environment at two nursing colleges

Schubiger, Markus; Lechthaler, Filippo; Khamidova, Mohira; Parfitt, Barbara Ann; Prytherch, Helen; van Twillert, Erik; Wyss, Kaspar (2019). Informing the medical education reform in Tajikistan: evidence on the learning environment at two nursing colleges BMC Medical Education, 19(1), pp. 1-9. BioMed Central 10.1186/s12909-019-1515-0

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Background: The Tajik medical education system is undergoing a complex reform to enhance the transition of the healthcare system from its soviet legacy of emphasizing secondary level care/specialisation to become more family medicine and primary health care oriented. The current study presents the first empirical evaluation of the educational environment for nursing students in Tajikistan using the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM). The study results contribute to the benchmarking efforts of monitoring and positively steering the educational environment over time. Method: The study was based on a cross-sectional survey involving 630 nursing students at two nursing colleges in Tajikistan. Students’ perception of the learning environment was measured using the DREEM. Internal consistency was examined using Cronbach’s alpha. General scores were calculated and measured against international benchmarks. Data was further interpreted by comparing DREEM scores between students of different sex, at different colleges and different study years using T tests. Results: Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.30 to 0.75 with an overall alpha of 0.89. General DREEM scores were slightly above average compared to similar studies with nursing students in other countries. In particular, results showed that students’ academic self-perception and teachers’ technical competences were generally favourably rated. Teachers’ pedagogical skills were critically perceived by the study participants and teaching was generally viewed as too teachercentred with an over-emphasis on factual learning. Conclusions: Statistical results indicated acceptable levels of reliability of the DREEM tool when applied to the Tajik nursing educational context. Students rated the learning environment as generally satisfactory with average scores similar or slightly higher than comparable scores from similar studies involving nursing students. However, the ongoing educational reform could have placed more emphasis on developing faculty pedagogical skills in nursing schools. Teaching approaches would benefit from being more competency based rather than so heavily focused on factual knowledge. Keywords: Tajikistan primary healthcare, Medical education, Curriculum reform, Nursing students, Learning environment, Perceptions

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL > Resource-efficient agricultural production systems School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL > HAFL Hugo P. Cecchini Institute School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL > Agriculture
Name:	Schubiger, Markus; Lechthaler, Filippo; Khamidova, Mohira; Parfitt, Barbara Ann; Prytherch, Helen; van Twillert, Erik and Wyss, Kaspar
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General) S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General)
ISSN:	1472-6920
Publisher:	BioMed Central
Language:	English
Submitter:	Nadine Werndli
Date Deposited:	08 Oct 2019 12:21
Last Modified:	22 Sep 2020 07:28
Publisher DOI:	10.1186/s12909-019-1515-0
ARBOR DOI:	10.24451/arbor.8384
URI:	https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/8384