Together we stand, divided we fall: Interprofessional collaborative practice competencies from Malaysian medical professionals' perspectives

Objective: As the demands on the health care system are increasing, there are more calls to embed interprofessional education [IPE] into health professionals' curriculum. However, the outcomes for the curriculum are still being defined, and there is limited information about IPE in medical contexts to guide educators. This study aims to explore medical professionalism from the perspective of Malaysian medical professionals and specifically the interprofessional collaborative practice [ICP] competencies that are expected from physicians in Malaysian medical contexts

Methods: We conducted focus-group discussions with medical doctors in Malaysia to capture the participants' experiences and views on medical professionalism and ICP. We then conducted a thematic analysis of the transcripts. The data were managed by Atlas.Ti software

Results: As many as 22 academician and nonacademician medical doctors participated in this study. From the focus-group discussions, eight themes emerged to describe medical professionalism in Malaysia. These themes can be categorized into common, complementary and collaborative competencies. We found that collaborative competencies in Malaysia include 'leadership and interprofessional skills' and 'patient primacy

Conclusion: This study provided a preliminary description of medical professionalism and collaborative competencies expected in Malaysia. The findings of this study provide a skeleton for further studies about effective teaching strategies and assessment tools that are used to impart IPE

Assessing the validity of the cognitive load scale in a problem-based learning setting

Objectives: The cognitive load scale has only been validated in non-problem-based learning settings. Hence, this study was conducted to assess the validity of this scale in a problem-based learning environment by testing its construct validity and internal consistency

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on 125 first-year medical students after a problem-based learning session. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test its construct validity using the Analysis of Moment Structure software. The internal consistency of this inventory was determined through reliability analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software [SPSS]

Results: A total of 93 medical students completed the inventory. The analysis showed that the three-factor scale attained an acceptable level of goodness-of-fit indices, indicating good construct validity. The scale's Cronbach's alpha was more than 0.7, indicating a high level of internal consistency. All of the items attained a standardized factor loading of more than 0.5, which indicated high contributions to the respective scales. The mean levels of students' intrinsic load and self-perceived learning were high, and the mean level of students' extraneous load was low. These findings signalled that students learned well during the session despite difficult instruction

Educational environment and psychological distress of medical students: the role of a deep learning approach

Objectives: Studies concur that an optimal learning environment is a vital aspect for effective learning and for enhancing students' well-being. Conversely, medical training is reported to be a suboptimal environment, thereby compromising students' learning and well-being. This study aimed to explore the interrelations of the learning environment, learning approaches and psychological distress among medical students

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 656 medical students. The Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measurement, Learning Approaches inventory and 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale were administered to measure the educational environment, learning approaches and psychological distress, respectively. Structural equation modelling was performed by Analysis of Moment Structure software

Results: The results showed that the proposed structural model had good model fit [Goodness of Fit Index [GFI] = 0.920, Root Mean Square of Error Approximation [RMSEA] = 0.048, Tucker-Lewis Index [TLI] = 0.953, Comparative Fit Index [CFI] = 0.960, Normed Fit Index [NFI] = 0.924, Chi[2]/df = 2.020]. The effect of deep learning on psychological distress was fully moderated by the educational environment, while the effects of other learning strategies on psychological distress were not supported in our analysis

Conclusions: A positive educational environment has direct and positive influences on the psychological health of medical students. Strategic and deep learning approaches have positive influences on the perceived educational environment, but only the deep learning approach has indirect positive effects on psychological health. Improving the educational environment and promoting deep learning approaches for medical students will improve their psychological health during medical training

Associations of pass-fail outcomes with psychological health of first-year medical students in a Malaysian medical school

The demanding and intense environment of medical training can create excessive pressures on medical students that eventually lead to unfavorable consequences, either at a personal or professional level. These consequences can include poor academic performance and impaired cognitive ability. This study was designed to explore associations between pass-fail outcome and psychological health parameters [i.e. stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms]. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a cohort of first-year medical students in a Malaysian medical school. The depression anxiety stress scale 21-item assessment [DASS-21] was administered to them right after the final paper of the first-year final examination. Their final examination outcomes [i.e. pass or fail] were traced by using their student identity code [ID] through the Universiti Sains Malaysia academic office. A total of 194 [98.0%] of medical students responded to the DASS-21. An independent t-test showed that students who passed had significantly lower stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms than those who failed the first-year final examination [P <0.05]. Those who experienced moderate to high stress were at 2.43 times higher risk for failing the examination than those who experienced normal to mild stress. Medical students who failed in the final examination had higher psychological distress than those who passed the examination. Those who experienced high stress levels were more likely to fail than those who did not. Reducing the psychological distress of medical students prior to examination may help them to perform better in the examination