Perception of medical students on their education environment: A quantitative study

Abstract

Background: Health care workforce is one of the six core components of a well-functioning and sufficient health system. The WHO highlights improving education and training of health workforce as one of the areas of focus for improving health. Medical education is a pillar of the health care workforce. Educational environment, the physical circumstances or conditions under which learning takes place is an important factor that determines the effectiveness of medical education. It’s academic and clinical effects are significant determinants of medical students’ attitudes, knowledge, skills, progression and behaviors. To ensure strong health systems, there is need for improvement in medical education. This has to be contextual and informed by locally relevant data. This study aimed at assessing Ugandan medical students’ perception of their learning environment. Methods: This was a quantitative cross-sectional study among medical students across five medical schools in Uganda between December 2021 and February 2022. Participants filled an online questionnaire with a demographics section and the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) tool. The data was analyzed using R Studio version 2021.09.0 + 351. The average score for each of the DREEM subscales and total DREEM score were calculated in addition to their relationship with demographic characteristics Results: The average total DREEM score of the 335 participants was 112.27/200 (56.12%). We found that 69% (231/335) of the students had a positive perception while 31% had a negative perception of their learning environment. The sub-scale mean scores were as follows; Perception of Atmosphere – 25.14/48(52%), Social Self-perception − 14.94/28 (53%), Perception of Teachers − 24.86/44 (56%), Perception of Learning − 28.8/48 (59%) and Academic Self-perceptions – 19.04/32 (60%). “There is a good support system for students who get stressed” was the item with the lowest mean score (1.41/5) Conclusions: The perception of medical students on their learning environment is just above average. This could negatively impact the quality of the health workforce. To ensure training of a robust health workforce, there is need for improvement in learning environment especially the atmosphere and social support.