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. 2023 Aug 11;23(1):571.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-023-04073-y.

The quantified analysis of the correlation between medical humanities curriculums and medical students' performance

Shiau-Shian Huang  1   2   3 , Chao-Chung Ho  4 , Yeong-Ruey Chu  5 , Jr-Wei Wu  4   6   7 , Ying-Ying Yang  4   6
Affiliations

The quantified analysis of the correlation between medical humanities curriculums and medical students' performance

Shiau-Shian Huang et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: A high-quality medical humanities (MH) education program is essential to developing a successful medical practitioner and can influence clinical performance. It is also vital to improve the evaluation of MH education to restore harmonious mutual relationships in medical care. However, studies have yet to discuss the correlation between the learning quality and quantity of medical humanities curriculums (MHC) and medical students' scores of clinical curriculums and clinical performance. The study aimed to assess the correlation between the learning quality and quantity of MHC and medical students' performance.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study by analyzing a dataset of students' learning records. After excluding students with missing demographic information (n = 1) and overseas Chinese students (n = 15), the study included six- and seven-year program medical school students (n = 354) at National Yang-Ming University who were admitted between 2012 and 2014. The correlation between learning quality and quantity in MHC and students' following performance was evaluated by multivariable-adjusted regression analyses.

Results: After adjusting for potential confounders (gender, residential area, age at enrollment, type of administration, and school program), the number of MHC with good learning outcomes was significantly correlated with clinical curriculum scores (p < 0.05), clerkship performance (p < 0.001), and weighted average mark (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Our study found a correlation between MHC with good learning outcomes and medical students' following performance. A future study of improving the quality of MH education is warranted.

Keywords: Clerkship performance; Curriculums; Medical humanities; Weighted average mark.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The correlation between the adjusted number of MHC and students' performance (scores: clinical curriculum scores, clerkship performance, and weighted average mark). MHC: medical humanities curriculums   Adjusted number of MHC: when a student's MHC score is better than the median MHC score of all students, the MHC that was taken was counted
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