Tıp Fakültesi Öğrencilerinin Farmakoloji Dersine Yönelik Tutumları: Ölçek Geliştirme ve Uygulama Çalışması

Abstract

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to develop a valid and reliable attitude scale by determining the attitudes of medical school students towards the pharmacology course and to examine these attitudes in terms of variables such as students' gender, year of education, reasons for choosing medical school, following sources other than lecture notes, and desire to specialize in medicine in the future. Methods: In this research, which was conducted with the participation of 498 students, 250 female and 248 male, from the third, fourth, fifth and sixth terms of Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University Faculty of Medicine, a 21-item 5-point Likert-type scale was used as a data collection tool. The survey was carried out face to face with term 4, 5 and 6 students, and online with term 3 students. During the scale development phase, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity were used, and factor analysis was performed with the Principal Axis Factoring (PAF) method. To identify factor candidates, the criterion was that the eigenvalue exceeded 1. To determine the reliability level, Cronbach Alpha and McDonald's Omega reliability levels were examined. Results: The attitude scale of medical school students towards pharmacology course was developed as 12 items and two factors. Two factors with eigenvalues greater than 1 were determined in the scale: "indispensable course pharmacology" and "useless course pharmacology". It was determined that the Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega reliability values of the factors were above 0.70 and the scale was highly reliable. Although the students reached high mean and median values in the two negative items of the pharmacology attitude scale, they reached high mean and median values in the mostly positive items. In general, the students considered the pharmacology course necessary and exhibited positive attitudes. While the gender of the students did not make a difference in their attitudes towards the pharmacology course, the term of education and their reasons for choosing the medical school created a significant difference in their attitudes towards the pharmacology course. In addition, students' following medical sources other than lecture notes and resources provided by faculty members and their desire to be an expert created a significant difference in their attitudes towards the pharmacology course. Conclusions: The results of this study show that the developed pharmacology attitude scale is a reliable and valid measure of students' attitudes towards the pharmacology course. These findings can be used to improve pharmacology teaching and encourage positive attitudes towards the course among medical students.