comenius university in bratislava faculty of medicine · evaluation of student survey for the...

EVALUATION OF STUDENT SURVEY For the academic year 2016/2017

Bratislava, 22 May 2018

Comenius University in Bratislava

FACULTY OF MEDICINE

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Contents

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 3

1. Survey results – general section ............................................................................................. 4

1.1. Students’ answers to the questions in the general section in the form of comments ....... 4

1.2. Students’ answers to the questions in the general section using stars: ............................... 5

2. Survey results – study programmes ...................................................................................... 7

2.1. Comparison of results for individual study programmes based on star ratings ................ 7

2.2. Survey evaluation – Všeobecné lekárstvo Years 1–3 ............................................................ 10

2.3. Survey evaluation – Všeobecné lekárstvo Years 4–6 ............................................................ 11

2.4. Survey evaluation – General Medicine Years 1–3 .................................................................. 14

2.5. Survey evaluation – General Medicine Years 4–6 .................................................................. 15

2.6. Survey evaluation – Zubné lekárstvo Years 1–6 .................................................................... 16

2.7. Survey evaluation – Dentistry Years 1–6 ................................................................................. 17

Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................. 18

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Introduction

The student survey for the academic year 2016/2017 was prepared and implemented

in electronic form. The faculty leadership chose this format in response to wishes expressed by the

majority of students in the previous survey for the academic year 2015/2016 – that the survey

should be in electronic format in future.

Students were informed about the survey through the faculty website and an invitation

to complete the survey that the student section of academic senate sent to every student by e-mail.

They logged into the survey using the same username and password as for AiS2. All responses were

anonymised after sending. The survey was available at: https://anketa.uniba.sk/fmed/ in the period

from 09/11/2017 to 03/12/2017. The survey was completed by students of general medicine

and dentistry in both Slovak and English language programmes. Responses were submitted

by 1,796 students of the Faculty of Medicine, which is 60% of the student body.

For the protection of personal data, comments containing personal data in the general part

of the survey were blocked. Their content was studied though. Students wrote more than 10,000

comments in total, the vast majority of which were relevant and constructive. The responses

of students studying in English tended to be more general.

The results for each study programme and year were processed by the competent vice-dean

of studies.

https://anketa.uniba.sk/fmed/

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1. Survey results – general section

1.1. Students’ answers to the questions in the general section in the form

of comments

Overall impression of the faculty based on the students’ experience so far:

Students listed what they considered to be the positive and negative aspects of the faculty.

They often mention unsuitable facilities, obsolete equipment, the bad appearance of the faculty and

the dean’s office. A point perceived as positive is the renovation of the faculty’s buildings and

grounds. They welcome the addition of the building on Moskovská to the teaching facilities. They

are not satisfied with the teaching in the clinical departments, where they get little attention. They

mention the lack of practical tuition. There is a lack of cloakrooms. They complain about the large

amount of theory and little practice. Overall, they would like teaching to be more practically

oriented. They are annoyed by continuously increasing test requirements. They praise the

equipment in the Institute of Simulation and Virtual Medical Education.

How the students like the survey in its present form:

Most students were satisfied with the survey’s electronic format and they are glad of the

chance to give their opinion although the questionnaire seemed too long to them. The large number

of teachers for some subjects made it difficult to find the right teacher. Some teachers did not

introduce themselves, so they did not know their names. Sometimes they could no longer remember

a teacher’s name because of the long interval between teaching and the survey. They would

therefore welcome having continuous access to the survey during teaching time so that they could

rate a teacher immediately after a lecture or practical. Some students were concerned that the

survey is obligatory and would prefer it to be voluntary.

Activity of the student section of the Academic Senate

The students had little information on the activities of the student section of the academic

senate or were unaware of it. Those who followed its activities were satisfied.

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Overall impression of the faculty library:

They are satisfied with the staff but criticise the fact that there are not enough textbooks for

all the students. Some would like longer opening hours.

1.2. Students’ answers to the questions in the general section using stars:

Your overall impression of the faculty based on your experience.

Average value: 3.34 (total votes: 1248)

Activities of the Student section of the Faculty Council (ŠČAS).


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Your overall impression of the faculty library.


How do you like the student questionnaire in its current form?


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2. Survey results – study programmes

2.1. Comparison of results for individual study programmes based on star ratings

Overall evaluation of the quality of the study program. VL ZL

Average value: 3.5 (total votes: 766) Average value: 3.02 (total votes: 122)

VLa ZLa


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How difficult is the study program?

VL ZL


VLa ZLa


9

How interesting are the topics of the study program?

VL ZL


VLa ZLa


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2.2. Survey evaluation – Všeobecné lekárstvo Years 1–3

• There were problems with biochemistry.

- There was a meeting between the vice-dean Eliška Kubíková and the head of the

institute to discuss solutions for these issues. Students who have not yet successfully

passed the credit test for Medical Biochemistry 1 can take the test during the test

period in August.

• There are different percentage scores for tests (80%, 60%, 70%). Student representatives

requested a limit of 70% for all subjects, except anatomy, which as a core subject for

medicine should keep the threshold of 80%.

• Pharmacokinetics and Pharmaco-economics.

- After consultation with prof. Kristová, the head of the pharmacology institute, we

consider the number of hours suitable given the fast pace of drug development.

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2.3. Survey evaluation – Všeobecné lekárstvo Years 4–6 Negative ratings for subjects:

• Sport Medicine – failure to respect study regulations, until the end of the semester the students did not know whether there would be an oral or written test, inappropriate or no teaching materials, incomprehensible final tests where it was impossible to check and determine what errors had been made. Ninety-three students commented on the subject.

• Surgery - Insufficient study materials, bad organisation of practicals, the department with the worst evaluation was the 2nd Department of Surgery on Antolská; lectures on urology were hardly ever provided and only after students asked for them.

• Gynaecology and Obstetrics – missing seminars

• Radiology– insufficient practical evaluation of images, especially for basic pathologies.

• Forensic Medicine – the exact point scores for the test were not specified

• Urgent Medicine – questions were not disclosed

• Dermatovenerology – a large number of questions on the test

• Neurology – a difficult test before the final exam

Positive assessments of departments:

• Surgical disciplines – Department of Oncological Surgery OÚSA (St. Elizabeth Cancer Institute), Department of Paediatric Surgery, Department of Plastic Surgery, Department of Burns and Reconstructive Surgery

• Internal medicine – 1st and 5th Department of Internal Medicine

• Infectious diseases

• Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery

• Social Medicine

• Medical Psychology and Communication with Patients

• Hygiene, mainly the part about nutrition

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Positive ratings for teachers – rated by 5 – 10 students in the survey

• Prof. Š. Durdík – Department of Oncological Surgery

• P. Chvalný, MD - Department of Oncological Surgery

• M. Kilian, MD – 2nd Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology

• M. Zemanová, MD – 1st Department of Surgery

• PharmDr. A. Gažová – Institute of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology

• Assoc. prof. S. Balogová – Department of Nuclear Medicine

• N. Moravanský, MD – Institute of Forensic Medicine

• PaedDr. R. Važan – Institute of Physical Education and Sport

• Prof. J. Payer – 5th Department of Internal Medicine

• Prof. J. Murín, Assoc. prof. E. Šteňová, M. Čaprnda, MD, D. Čelovská, MD– 1st Department of Internal Medicine

Positively rated compulsory optional subjects:

• Paediatric Surgery

• Drugs and Drug Addiction

• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

• Gynaecological Oncology

• Clinical Anaesthesiology and Intensive Medicine

• Clinical Pathology

• Socially Severe Malignancies

• Introduction to Healthcare Management Negatively rated compulsory optional subjects:

• Clinical Biochemistry

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Proposed measures:

• Surgery – lecture notes need to be published for medical students; clinical practicals should include a seminar (lasting around an hour) on a relevant issue from the syllabus for the semester

• Gynaecology and Obstetrics – publish the curriculum, create seminars

• Radiology – arrange for medical students themselves to evaluate images, especially for basic pathologies

• Family Medicine – create meaningful content

• Physical Training – keep only as a compulsory optional subject. Points to consider:

• Internal medicine – instead of the credit written test, consider a practical test – at least in some semesters

• Neurology – consider creating new questions for the credit test

• Dermatovenerology – consider creating new questions for the test

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2.4. Survey evaluation – General Medicine Years 1–3

Students commented on several aspects of study. Their most frequent reservations were:

• insufficient interest in foreign students based on examples such as the relative lack of content on the English website compared to the site for Slovak students

- check the content of pages and clinics in English - heads of clinics were asked to post questions for oral tests on their websites - a request will be made to post additional, specific data to sites

• students would appreciate it if lectures were available on the web - publish lectures on the web but not their full length

• a repeated comment was that teachers did not have an adequate level of English - the comments did not go into detail

• comments on the organisation of study, test criteria and the approach of teachers - they did not go into detail

• internal medicine received a positive evaluation while the evaluation of surgery tended to be negative

• the following clinics and teachers working there received positive evaluations: Prof. Payer, Prof. Mego, Prof. Bátorová

• the renovation of the buildings and the overall changes in teaching over the last three years were assessed positively (because the evaluations were by students in years 1 to 3)

• the students commented on teaching in individual subjects - It is difficult to extract relevant information though because the number

of responses was not large. In future steps will have to be taken so that students comment on every subject. One solution is to adjust the wording of the questions and their number.

Conclusion: responses are often general and avoid specific details that would make it possible

to identify the workplaces/teachers causing problems. This means that the questions need

to be adjusted so that in future the answers provide a better yield.

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2.5. Survey evaluation – General Medicine Years 4–6

• improve the level of English language

• difficult tests - Neurology 1 - Paediatric Propaedeutics - Otorhinolaryngology

• number of questions – reduction - Dermatovenerology 1 – Department of Dermatovenerology

• insufficient amount of dates for exam - 1st Department of Neurology

• improve the organisation of teaching during practical exercises - Radiology and Nuclear Medicine – 2nd Department of Radiology - 1st Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics - 1st Department of Internal Medicine - Department of Urgent and General Medicine

• failure to provide the allocated teaching and practical training time - 2nd Department of Internal Medicine - Paediatrics 1 – Department of Paediatrics

• praise for the department - 1st Department of Anaesthesiology and Resuscitation - 2nd Department of Anaesthesiology and Resuscitation - Department of Stomatology and Maxillofacial Surgery - Department of Epidemiology - Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery - Department of Infectology and Geographical Medicine - Department of Ophthalmology - Department of Paediatric Ophthalmology

Conclusion: Not all the foreign students responded to the survey. In many cases no verbal commentary was included, which reduced the overall information value of the survey.

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2.6. Survey evaluation – Zubné lekárstvo Years 1–6

Problems most frequently mentioned by students:

• The main problems that students reported related to internships in the 2nd Department of Surgery, where they complained both about the procedure for the practicals and teachers’ attitudes.

- The situation improved significantly after a change in the department’s management and the arrival of new teachers.

• In most healthcare facilities there is a problem with cloakrooms, which do not have adequate capacity or provide adequate security for students’ belongings.

- The clinic is aware of these problems and if the Department of Stomatology and Maxillofacial Surgery of the Faculty of Medicine and the St. Elizabeth Cancer Institute reconstruct their facilities, they will also address this issue.

• In some subjects there is not enough study literature. - The supervisors of the subjects have been asked to check and update the list of study

literature.

• They have a lot of general subjects that go deeply into detail and that take up time that could be dedicated to dentistry.

• In dentistry practicals there is a problem with a shortage of dental units so that sometimes four students must work on one unit. Overall, the number of teaching doctors is out of proportion to the number of students. They would like the school to arrange more patients for practical exercises so that they do not have to find them themselves.

- This problem is the result of long-term under-funding of dentistry training by the Ministry of Education.

• Respondents would welcome modernisation of the Department of Preclinical Dentistry and more real practice on dental phantoms. Situations should be more realistic and there should be more realistic materials and aids.

- This problem is the result of long-term under-funding of dentistry training by the Ministry of Education. The Faculty of Medicine is doing what it can to address the situation.

• Respondents would like more practical training instead of theoretical seminars (lectures?) - At present there is no capacity to provide more practice. We are taking some steps

to address the problem by organising workshops in cooperation with several companies.

• Online lectures that can be watched later from a recording were suggested.

Conclusion: We will continue to address these problems and look for solutions to them.

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2.7. Survey evaluation – Dentistry Years 1–6

Problems most frequently mentioned by students:

• Some teachers were criticised for having an inadequate level of English.

• They would like the faculty to provide better quality practical lessons.

• They would like to spend less time on general subjects.

• They would like to work with more modern equipment since they pay for their studies.

Conclusion: These problems and observations are the same as for the study of dentistry in Slovak. We are trying to deal with the problem of some teachers’ deficiencies by looking for new teachers but there are several obstacles to this.

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Conclusion

The results of the survey were processed by the competent vice deans of studies and discussed at management meeting of the Comenius University Faculty of Medicine. Representatives of the student section of the Academic Senate were informed of the survey results. Specific measures have already been taken to address some problems. Several deficiencies have been resolved in the meantime.

The survey will be improved based on the experience that has been obtained and in future it will be possible to complete it on an ongoing basis during the teaching periods of the winter and summer semesters. This will make the survey easier to complete and will provide more relevant information because students will be able to identify a specific teacher more easily. Bratislava, 22 May 2018 Prepared by:

Assoc. prof. Eliška Kubíková, MD, PhD. Study Vice Dean for 1st – 3rd year study program General Medicine, study in Slovak language, quality and inovation in education Prof. Viera Štvrtinová, MD, PhD. Study Vice Dean for 4th – 6th year study program General Medicine, study in Slovak language Prof. Boris Mravec, MD, PhD. Study Vice Dean for 1st – 3rd year study program General Medicine, study in English language Prof. Ingrid Brucknerová, MD, PhD. Study Vice Dean for 4th – 6th year study program General Medicine, study in English language Bohuslav Novák, MD, PhD. Study Vice Dean for 1st – 6th year study program Dentistry, study in Slovak and English languages, IIKS

Approved by:

Prof. Juraj Šteňo, MD, DrSc., IFAANS Dean of the Faculty of Medicine

comenius university in bratislava faculty of medicine · evaluation of student survey for the...

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