Original Article

Perceptions of Education and Future Considerations of Year 2012 Graduates of Gülhane Military Medical Faculty

10.5455/gulhane.29251

  • Pelin Özmen
  • Soykan Şahin
  • Mehmet Çetin
  • Yusuf Ziya Türk

Received Date: 29.11.2012 Accepted Date: 29.04.2013 Gulhane Med J 2013;55(4):261-268

Objectives:

Medical training is an ongoing process which starts with university entrance and lasts until retirement. This study aims to evaluate the first stage of this process, the undergraduate curriculum. It examines the reasons why graduates of 2012 chose to study at the Gülhane Military Medical Faculty (GATF), the educational environment, the strengths and weaknesses of the training provided, professional qualifications, skills and leadership perceptions, feelings of commitment to and trust in the faculty and perceptions of specialist training. Participants were also invited to make suggestions.

Research Method:

61 physicians graduated from GATF in 2012. Six of these were foreign nationals, and were not included in the study. Of the remaining 55 physicians, 48 (87,3%) were contactable.. A questionnare consisting of 35 questions in six sections was administrated in this study, and no scale was used.

Findings:

4,2%of the participants were female, 95,8%male. The average age was 23,97 ± 0,11 93,8%completed their studies within the prescribed time frame,and for 79,2%GATF had been their first choice. Participants evaluated educational trainibg in basic and clinical medical sciences as succesful, and the presence of qualified faculty members was cited as the most important strenght of their studies.

Conclusion:

Participants are proud to be GATF students, have confidence in their institution and believe that they received a good training. They feel they are ready to practise medicine as physicians. Most of them want to receive specialist medical training and study towards this goal. Their social environment and computer facilities are limited. They want to learn more about medical law, CPR, legal issues, field medicine and communication techniques. It is expected that work in these fields will increase the productivity of the training provided and in turn bring further benefits to GATF, which has proven success in medical education and has become a trademark of excellence in its field.

Keywords: Undergraduate medical training, strengths and weaknesses of training, specialists medical examinations and medical speciality.