Psychometric properties of a persian version of the specialty indecision scale: a Preliminary study

Diagnosis and management of specialty choice indecision is an important part of career guidance and support for medical students. Determining causes of indecision and resolving them helps students to make an optimum decision. The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of a Persian version of the specialty indecision scale as an on-line questionnaire for medical student and graduates of Isfahan University of medical sciences, and also to determine the attitude of the participants towards this questionnaire. In this cross-sectional study, using Richard's specialty indecision questionnaire, the Iranian version of the questionnaire for clinical specialty indecision was developed. Face validity and cultural validity were confirmed by educational experts, and translation, back translation method, respectively. Then, the participants completed the online version of the questionnaire. Afterward, the questionnaire's items were factor analyzed. At the end, Subjects were asked about the questionnaire [clarity of the questionnaire, attractiveness of the website, user friendliness of the questionnaire, number of personal questions]. Fifty eight subjects participated in this study. The reliability of the questionnaire was acceptable [0.84]. Two questions were omitted and five were revised. Items were grouped in 4 factors [general indecisiveness, postponing, barriers, and lack of determination] one of which [barriers] was similar to the American version. The subjects were also satisfied with online questionnaire and 100% of them thought completion of the tool was useful. This study showed that conducting a web based specialty indecision questionnaire is possible. It had differences with the American version both in number of factors and the items placement. These differences are justifiable in terms of the differences in cultural backgrounds and residency admission processes in the two countries. Also, lack of attention to translating the questions and inadequacy of sample size could be other reasons for these differences. With regard to the fact that there are no career counselors in Iranian universities, operating a web based career guidance system, along with introducing a counselor, may help medical students in specialty choice decision making

[Interns' viewpoints toward the stAuts of training by residents in Isfahan Univeristy of Medical Sciences]

Resident as a capable educational resource can make use of every opportunity for training interns and students. The aim of this study was to determine the interns' viewpoints toward the stAuts of their training by residents. In a descriptive cross-sectional study in educational hospitals of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, 54 interns spending the last 6 months of their medical training were selected through simple random sampling. Data was gathered using a researcher-made questionnaire which was filled by interns in self-administered manner. Data was analyzed by SPSS software using frequency distribution, mean, and standard deviation. Mean and standard deviation of interns' viewpoints toward the training by residents in areas of knowledge, practice, individual characteristics, the most useful educational field, the process of education, and educational capabilities and responsibilities were 58.2 +/- 10.9, 66 +/- 12.5, 50.7 +/- 13.3, 64 +/- 17, 45 +/- 14.8, and 56.8 +/- 13 out of 100, respectively. Based on 70.4 percent of interns, first year residents were more motivated for training. According to interns, clinic and emergency ward were more suitable environments for training by residents while residents spent a little time on training. Interns' work load and lack of purpose and planning in residents' training were among problems mentioned by interns. The scores that interns gave to the stAuts of training by residents were in average level. The educational role of residents varies in different wards and shows that they can make better contributions to education. Holding workshops on teaching methods for residents and investigating the existing barriers for education are recommended

[Prevalence of risk factors for retinal vein occlusion in patients referred to a private clinic in Rasht, Iran]

To determine the frequency of risk factors for retinal vein occlusion [RVO] in patients referred to a private clinic in Rasht during 1995-2001. This cross-sectional study was conducted on all patients with RVO who were referred to the clinic. Sex, age, hypertension [HTN], cardiovascular diseases [CVD], diabetes mellihls [DM], hypercoagulable states, glaucoma, smoking, hyperlipidemia [HLP], and refractive errors were evaluated. This study included 143 cases of branch retinal vein occlusion [BRVO] and 119 cases of central retinal vein occlusion [CRVO]. In BRVO group, mean age was 60.5 +/- 17.5 years. Prevalene of HTN, HLP, CVD, smoking, DM, and glaucolna was 62.2%, 52.1%, 44.5%, 43.7%, 31.9%, and 8.4%, respectively. In CRVO group, mean age was 58.8% +/- 2.3 years. The prevalence of the abovementioned risk factors in this group was 70.6%, 58.0%, 51.7%, 36.4%, 20.3%, and 2.1%, respectively. None of the patients had hypercoagulablity. Most patients had +/- 1 diopter of refractive error [67.7% in the BRVO group and 82.3% in the CRVO group]. The prevalence of HTN, HLP, CVD, smoking, DM, and glaucoma are significantly high in RVO patients. Early diagnosis and management of these risk factors may decrease the prevalence of RVO diseases