ABSTRACT
Structured morning meetings [SMM] were introduced in department of Physiology at Bahria University Medical and Dental College from May 2009. The responses from faculty members who attended the SMM for a period of one year affirmed this to be a healthy activity. It helped 9 [90%] and 7[70%] faculty members in preparation and improvement of multiple choice questions and objective structured practical examination for the examination. The presentation skills of 7[70%] presenters were improved by this exercise. The respondents recommended its continuation in future
ABSTRACT
Objective: To assess usefulness of student's seminars in teaching of physiology
Methods: A cross sectional study conducted from January 2010 to December 2011. The students seminars were scheduled once in two months for a duration of 2 hours with at least three presentations. Presentation of 30 minutes carried by a group of four students was, followed by question and answer session. The response of students on usefulness of seminars was acquired through a questionnaire with three components; I] usefulness of seminars in understanding of Physiology acquired on 5 point Likert Scale strongly disagree [0] to strongly agree [5]; II] useful for leaning capabilities on three point scale, not at all, to some extent and to a great extent, and III] comprised the free comment section. Frequency of responses was analyzed by SPSS version 11
Results: A total of 13 seminars were conducted by Department of Physiology. Response showed that 62 [71%] and 71[82%] were not able to understand content and difficult concepts of Physiology. Only 2[2%] rated its usefulness to understand pathological aspects, it did not help altogether in theory examination and only 5 [6%] rated its efficacy for practical examination. Working in group enabled them 42[48%] to interact with each other. Seminars helped in self directed learning with development of presentation and communication skills in 21[24%], 28 [32 %] and 32[37%] respectively. The students recommended this to be conducted in small groups
Conclusion: Students were not satisfied with the utility of seminars in teaching of Physiology and improvement in their learning capabilities