/ 141 QUALITY CIRCLES AMONG PHASE I MEDICAL STUDENTS Trakya University Medical Faculty, Edirne, Turkey Zekeriya Aktürk, MD Nezih Dağdeviren, MD Erkan Melih Şahin, MD Cahit Özer, MD Title and Staff

/ 142 What are Quality Circles ? QC Circle is a small group in which people who work in the first line work place, continually improve and maintain the quality of products, services, job... İntroduction Workers Work placeProducts Students LearningSchool

/ 143 The Objective of this Study Does student involvement improve learning quality ? What are the problems students face ? Include students into research activities Introduce the growing specialty family medicine to the doctors of tomorrow Aim

/ 144 How did the Quallity Circle Work? Lecture about quality circles to phase I medical students (135 students) Volunteers: 26 students 6 members for each meeting At each meeting one circle leader Facilitator: family practice department Meetings once a week Solutions suggested to the dean Method

/ 145 Some of the Circle Members at Work Members

/ 146 Another Scene of Circle Members at Work Members

/ 147 What are the Problems in This Faculty? November May 2001: 14 meetings Problem pool: 50 problems –22 related with education –28 related with accommodation etc. Results

/ 148 What is the Importance of Each Problem? Likert scale to estimate the importance of problems Most important 10 problems: Results Social activities77 % Hospital services for medical students77 % Computer laboratory and internet access75 % Lecture materials (resources) for each lecture75 % Lecture materials should be given prior to the lectures75 % Problems related with the dining hall67 % Cleanness of the lavatories66 % Content of education60 % Difficulty level of the exams55 % Conference timing55 %

/ 149 Which Problems did the Circle Discuss? 7 problems discussed in 14 meetings –The cleanness of the lavatories –Canteen services –Dining hall services –Physical status of the lecture rooms –Educational system –Establishing a breech club –Education resources Results

/ 1410 Could the Circle Create any Change ? Quality Evaluation Questionnaire –A questionnaire was developed to assess different aspects of education –21 item, 5 point likert scale 5 items removed with request of dean: –The competency of the educators –General manner of the faculty personnel to the students –Availability of the educators –Availability of the managers –The quality of counseling services for students. Evaluation

/ 1411 Could the Circle Create any Change ? Quality Evaluation Questionnaire –December 2000: mean  SD 2.80  0.52 –May 2001: mean  SD 3.20  –Significant difference: t=3.506, p= Evaluation

/ 1412 What were the Profits of Quality Circles ? Positives Points of Success –Problems were solved –Student’s got motivated –Research facility for students –Student-family practice proximity was achieved –Quality as an issue started to be discussed at the faculty

/ 1413 What were the Barriers in Front of Quality Circles ? Obstacles Faced Barriers –Deans attitute –Time restriction –Insufficient resources –No quality culture

/ 1414 In Summary Quality Circles work They are effective Some difficulties were faced –They were expected anyway Deans attitute is changing This circle ended with a quality team Still more experience is necessary Conclusion