ASSESSMENT OF THE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AMONG MEDICAL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN A GOVERNMENT MEDICAL COLLEGE

BACKGROUND: The improved health of all people is the ultimate goal of medical education. Every student works hard to get into the best educational institution in order to pursue a competent career. Every institution has its core objective as imparting high standards of education and bringing out well trained students. The environment in which a student learns and grows is crucial to the overall development. AIM: To assess the perceptions of medical students of their educational environment. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A cross sectional study was undertaken in a medical college with third year medical undergraduate students as the participants. METHODS AND MATERIALS: An internationally validated 50 item questionnaire, Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) was administered to students. There are five aspects to the questionnaire based on Students' Perception of Learning, Students' Perception of the Teachers, Students' Academic Self Perception, and Students' Perception of the Atmosphere and Students' Social Self Perception. The students responded to each question of the subscale by a 5 point Likert scale ranging from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree. RESULTS: All the subscales were totaled and an average score was calculated to be 114.79/200. As per the classification in DREEM Scale a score between 101-150 certifies an environment with ` More Positives than Negatives'. The students found the teachers knowledgeable, had learnt the importance of empathy, were confident of clearing exams and were very happy with their circle of friends. CONCLUSIONS: As per the final score, students are satisfied with their training environment and find the atmosphere conducive to learning. Teachers are encouraging and the students have a good social life. The results project good training to produce competent doctors in the society.