Iranian Journal of Medical Education

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Introduction: Medical education in Iran has four stages: Basic Medical Science (BMS), Pathophysiology, Clinical Clerkship, and Internship. The relevance of basic medical course contents to professional practice needs is considered to be a problem in such traditional curriculum. Also, diminished retention of the content is another problem. These two problems are explored in this study. Methods: One of the national comprehensive BMS exams was given to interns. The participant's previous score in a similar (but not identical) exam was assumed as the previous knowledge state. Their attitude toward clinical relevance of each question and different BMS courses were assessed using statements with five point Likert scale. Results: 70% of participants claimed that they filled questionnaires precisely. Mean of scores in the present exam was 25% less than the previous one (four year interval). Mean scores for clinical relevance of exam items was 3.7 out of 5.Knowledge scores didn't correlate with demographic variables. Present knowledge scores were directly correlated to the previous exam score and intern's average. Score for clinical relevance of a given exam item did not correlate with the knowledge score about it. Maximum knowledge scores were for questions of Health, Histology, and Pathology. The highest scores of clinical relevance were for questions of Nutrition, Health, Physiology, Pathology, Bacteriology, Parasitology, and English language. The highest scores of clinical application were for Nutrition, Health and Physiology. There was a miss-match between interns view about clinical relevance of some BMS courses (Genetics and Medical Physics) and clinical application of their exam items. Conclusions: The causes of 25% decline in knowledge retention should be explored more. The observed miss-match between clinical relevance of some BMS courses and clinical application of exam items as well as knowledge scores suggests that BMS course contents and exams should be revised according to professional practice needs.

Keywords: Intern, Comprehensive Exam, Basic Medical Sciences

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