DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS HAS TO BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF EDUCATION IN MEDICAL BIOPHYSICS

Introduction:
To ensure efficient, safe and accurate medical care, it is necessary that a doctor can choose the appropriate diagnostic or therapeutic method and use it properly. Doctors should be able also to evaluate the collected data and correctly interpret the result. Evidence-based medicine expects that healthcare professionals are able to understand scientific studies and to use them in decision making within patient care. High level of science process skills is becoming a sign of excellence in healthcare professions.

Material and methods:
Every year a simple questionnaire is used to find out basic characteristics of former physics education of students starting their study at the Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava and their experience in performing laboratory measurements. In the academic year 2016/17 the questionnaire was answered by 124 (63%) students studying in English language and 274 (69%) students studying in Slovak language. More detailed information on students’ initial ideas and skills were obtained through short introductory tests related to particular tasks of practical training during the semester. These tests were answered by 31 students studying in English and 35 students studying in Slovak language. Students’ knowledge, scientific performance and difficulties were analysed also using measurement reports of 18 different practical tasks written by totally 154 students.

Results:
Only 17% of medical students studying in English language and 46% of Slovak students declared in the personal questionnaire that they performed laboratory measurements as a part of their high school study.
Results of introductory tests showed for example that 25% of students failed in simple reading of value measured by a ruler and, at the same time, nobody mentioned the measurement uncertainty (the smallest unit of the scale). More than 68% of students failed when reading the measured value from digital device with a measuring range switch. At the very beginning of biophysics study more than 60% of students was not able to identify which one of three offered statements can be considered as a hypothesis and 72% of students was not able to form their own clearly stated testable hypothesis with correct identification of independent and dependent variable. A significant improvement of students’ hypothesising skill was observed during the semester, especially in familiar medical context.
Preliminary analysis of students’ measurement reports showed significant deficiency in organizing data in form of graphs as well as in statistical data processing.

Conclusion:
Research results confirmed the insufficient level of science process skills among first-year medical students. Significant part of students failed even in basic science process skills (e.g. measuring and classifying). Integrated science process skills (e.g. hypothesising, controlling variables, organising data in graphs and modelling) are problem for almost all students. Development of science process skills has to be an integral part of education also at university level.
All the obtained results will be used in innovation of practical training in Medical biophysics and in development of supporting e-learning course.

Acknowledgements:
This work was supported by KEGA 037UK-4/2016 "Monitoring and development of scientific abilities of university students of medical and biomedical study programmes”.