Basic medical sciences and understanding medicine: Insights from medical students

TL;DR

This study explores medical students' perceptions of basic medical sciences, highlighting their importance but also challenges like content overload and lack of practical training.

Contribution

The study provides insights into how medical students perceive basic sciences, identifying key challenges and suggesting practical improvements for medical education.

Findings

76.9% of students found the extensive content of basic medical sciences to be a major hindrance.

Anatomy was perceived as the easiest subject, while pharmacology and biochemistry were considered the hardest.

Only 20.9% of students believed basic sciences were relevant for practical training.

Abstract

Basic medical sciences form the cornerstone of any medical knowledge and are essential for understanding various diseases. This study aims to shed light on students’ viewpoints toward those sciences while delving into their motivations and hindrances and investigating individual subjects.

This cross-sectional study was carried out at Damascus University in Syria, targeting final-year medical students. Data collection occurred on a designated clerkship day, during which students were invited to complete an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire evaluated students’ overall perception and academic interest in studying basic medical sciences in pre-clinical years and their willingness to pursue these sciences as a prospective career.

The study surveyed 350 medical students, with 40% rating their interest as good/very good. The extensive content was perceived as a major hindrance by 76.9%. Anatomy was perceived as the easiest subject while pharmacology and biochemistry were considered the hardest. The majority acknowledged the value of basic sciences for further medical education (75.1%) and good physician (77.4%), but only 20.9% indicated their relevance for practical training. Furthermore, 68.6% of students were not interested in pursuing these sciences as a career, primarily due to their preference for clinical fields (55.8%) and concerns about low-income potential (41.3%).

This study highlighted students’ positive views on Basic Medical Sciences, emphasizing their essential role in understanding disease pathophysiology for medical education and practice. Nonetheless, it pointed out a lack of practical training. The findings underscore the importance of decreasing content intensity and enhancing retention through practical approaches aligned with clinical practice.

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