Abstract:

The present study endeavours to elucidate and analyse the quality of teaching process for the subject of Medical Terminology at the Department of Foreign Languages at Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University (JFM CU). A survey questionnaire was designed and used to gather relevant information for analysis within the period of last three years from amongst the first-year Slovak and international students studying General Medicine in two different language modules: Slovak and English. Once the quantitative data were collected, statistical analysis and interpretation were carried out to draw the most crucial conclusions from the students' assessments and responses. Subsequently, this approach allowed us to determine which aspects of teaching Medical Terminology were found to be the most significant for the students on one side, and which were insufficient on the other side. The results of the analysis have identified some problem areas and will serve as a “guideline” for teaching Medical Terminology in the future.

The satisfaction-targeted questionnaire, compiled at the Department of Foreign Languages JFM CU, was distributed among the Slovak and international students of General Medicine in the period from December 2019 to February 2022. Out of 250 questionnaires, 212 completed questionnaires were received back and used for the analysis.

The primary purpose of the study was to obtain a comprehensive student feedback on the quality of teaching process in the subject of Medical Terminology. The following areas and aspects of teaching were assessed:

1) the preferable study materials (printed or electronic materials);
2) a preferable form of teaching and studying the subject;
3) difficulties in adopting new language patterns;
4) effectiveness and usefulness of the acquired knowledge;
5) satisfaction and proposals for further improvement in the subject.

Despite the fact that the curricular content is identical in Slovak and international General Medicine educational modules, interesting differences have been revealed concerning the degree of understanding the subject matter as well as in the subsequent independent use of the acquired topics. Simultaneously, comparing classroom / face-to-face learning and online / remote e-learning, both advantages and disadvantages of these two teaching forms have come been precised.

Finally, we can conclude that the outcomes of the student feedback survey are essential for improving teaching forms and techniques as well as students’ engagement in the seminars of Medical Terminology in the future.

Keywords:

Latin-Greek Medical Teminology, Medical Students, Slovak students, international students, online e-learning, classroom learning.