Medical students' awareness and perception of national health examinations.

Key ingredients for upgrading health care include bolstering and appraising professional medical education. Health examination as a crucial element of health care that we must incorporate into medical education. This research evaluates medical students' awareness of national health examinations. Two surveys, focused on health examination knowledge and perspective, were conducted for first- to fourthyear medical students, results analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test and ANOVA. Research subjects scored maximum 11 (of possible 15): i.e., 76.2% accuracy for health examination knowledge questions and held positive views on seven (58%) perspective-related questions. Self-directed learning courses do provide a positive effect on students' learning. Respondents' varying backgrounds had insignificant impact on overall results, but in-depth analysis for each individual question does reveal differences among several backgrounds. Medical students' overall awareness level for health examination is above average in comparison to the general public. This research result can provide a basis to improve the related professional programs, courses and teachings or used as a reference for modifications on future classes. The above observations were discussed based on the medical education system in Taiwan.