Soqia Jameel, Ataya Jamal, Saadoun Rakan, Nahas Lujain, Yazbek Albaraa, Al-Shafie Mohammed, Hanifa Hamdah, Dakak Muhialdein, Izzat Ahmad Walid, Izzat Mohammad Bashar
Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Damascus University, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic.
Faculty of Medicine, Damascus University, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic.
Med Educ. 2024 Jun;58(6):730-736. doi: 10.1111/medu.15385. Epub 2024 Mar 28.
This study explored how the Syrian crisis, training conditions, and relocation influenced the National Medical Examination (NME) scores of final-year medical students.
Results of the NME were used to denote the performance of final-year medical students between 2014 and 2021. The NME is a mandatory standardised test that measures the knowledge and competence of students in various clinical subjects. We categorised the data into two periods: period-I (2014-2018) and period-II (2019-2021). Period-I represents students who trained under hostile circumstances, which refer to the devastating effects of a decade-long Syrian crisis. Period-II represents post-hostilities phase, which is marked by a deepening economic crisis.
Collected data included test scores for a total of 18 312 final-year medical students from nine medical schools (from six public and three private universities). NME scores improved significantly in period-II compared with period-I tests (p < 0.0001). Campus location or relocation during the crisis affected the results significantly, with higher scores from students of medical schools located in lower-risk regions compared with those from medical schools located in high-risk regions (p < 0.0001), both during and in the post-hostilities phases. Also, students of medical schools re-located to lesser-risk regions scored significantly less than those of medical schools located in high-risk regions (p < 0.0001), but their scores remained inferior to that of students of medical schools that were originally located in lower-risk regions (p < 0.0001).
Academic performance of final year medical students can be adversely affected by crises and conflicts, with a clear tendency to recovery upon crises resolution. The study underscores the importance of maintaining and safeguarding the infrastructure of educational institutions, especially during times of crisis. Governments and educational authorities should prioritise resource allocation to ensure that medical schools have access to essential services, learning resources, and teaching personnel.
本研究探讨叙利亚危机、培训条件和迁移如何影响医学专业最后一年学生的国家医学考试（NME）成绩。
NME的结果用于表示2014年至2021年医学专业最后一年学生的表现。NME是一项强制性标准化考试，用于衡量学生在各种临床学科的知识和能力。我们将数据分为两个时期：第一时期（2014 - 2018年）和第二时期（2019 - 2021年）。第一时期代表在敌对环境下接受培训的学生，这指的是长达十年的叙利亚危机的破坏性影响。第二时期代表敌对行动后的阶段，其特点是经济危机不断加深。
收集的数据包括来自九所医学院（六所公立和三所私立大学）的总共18312名医学专业最后一年学生的考试成绩。与第一时期的考试相比，第二时期的NME成绩有显著提高（p < 0.0001）。危机期间的校园位置或迁移对结果有显著影响，在敌对行动期间和之后，位于低风险地区医学院的学生成绩高于位于高风险地区医学院的学生（p < 0.0001）。此外，迁移到风险较低地区的医学院学生的成绩明显低于位于高风险地区医学院的学生（p < 0.0001），但他们的成绩仍低于原本位于低风险地区医学院学生的成绩（p < 0.0001）。
医学专业最后一年学生的学业成绩可能会受到危机和冲突的不利影响，危机解决后有明显的恢复趋势。该研究强调了维护和保障教育机构基础设施的重要性，特别是在危机时期。政府和教育当局应优先进行资源分配，以确保医学院能够获得基本服务、学习资源和教学人员。
