Evaluation of rheumatology lectures by clinical students in a Nigerian medical school: learning from the learners

Abstract

Objectives: To identify the most and least preferred rheumatology lectures, the proportional increase in students able to identify rheumatic conditions after the lectures as well as evaluate resident teaching effectiveness.

Methods: All 134 clinical students in the University of Uyo Medical School,  Southsouth Nigeria were asked to evaluate their rheumatology lectures using a selfadministered instrument containing the augmented Stanford Faculty Development Performance Questionnaire (aSFDPQ). Mann-Whitney U test was used for ordinal data with p<0.05.

Results: Response rate was 126 (94%) with 78 (61.9%) males. Rheumatoid arthritis was best preferred by 63 (50%) students while 42 (33.3%) of them cited spondyloarthropathies as their worst topic. Twenty six (20.6%) students identified a rheumatic condition before the lectures compared to 57 (45.2%) after the classes. Mean aSFDPQ score was 3.76±0.47. Best and least domains were learning climate (4.03) and evaluation (3.39). Mann-Whitney U values ranged from (1647.5<U<1869.5), (0.257<p<0.990) with no significant aSFDPQ difference by gender (p=0.825) or year of study (p=0.162). Mean global teacher rating was 74.64±13.65%.

Conclusions: Rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthropathies were the most and least preferred topics respectively. The proportion of students able to identify rheumatic conditions after the lectures increased by 24.6%. Despite good global rating (74.6%), teaching effectiveness was suboptimal (mean aSFDPQ<4.0). Formal pedagogic training is urgently needed to improve  residents’ teaching effectiveness in Nigeria.

Keywords: Student evaluation, Rheumatology lectures, Medical education