Matkalla lääkäriksi – lääkäri- ja hammaslääkäriopiskelijoiden käsityksiä hyvästä lääkäriydestä ensimmäisen opiskeluvuoden aikana
Keywords:
medical student and dental student, profession of a doctor, a good doctor, the growth of a doctor, medical educationAbstract
The purpose of this study was to study the conceptions of first-year medical and dental students concerning what is required from a good doctor and the possible changes in these conceptions during the students’ first academic year. The data consists of students’ written accounts about their conceptions. The data was collected in the beginning of the students’ first-year studies in autumn of 2008 and at the end of their first academic year in spring 2009. The study sample consists of medical and dental students who started their medical studies in 2008 in the University of Turku or Oulu (n=171). Oulu was chosen as a study sample because they also have a tutoring system in their study program. The medical students in the University of Turku have a comprehensive tutoring system and they also study professional themes via portfolio working. The qualitative study data was compressed into different types of groups. According to the results, the students who begin their studies in the Faculty of Medicine are very patient-centered and dedicated to their future profession. At the end of their first-year studies the students seem to lose some of their passionate attitude. Nevertheless, students remain very patient-oriented throughout their first-year studies. In addition, students understand the importance of lifelong learning and taking care of themselves very early on in their academic career. The well-being of the students is a really important theme that needs to be taken into consideration more in the faculty’s tutoring system and in the medical studies. It’s also important to find ways to prevent the medical students from becoming cynical.
