Opinion of medical students on the use of simulators in the classes
The aim of this work was studying the opinions of students of a medical institute about the use of simulators and simulators in practical classes. Methods: a questionnaire consisting of 24 points was compiled. The survey was conducted among 150 students from 2 to 6 courses of 30 people from each course at the Medical Institute of the Belgorod State National Research University. Statistical analysis was carried out using the program Statistica 6.0. Results: The respondents believed that simulators should be used for training in the following way: 92% of respondents answered «must constantly», “-«did not need» - 2%, «did not answer» - 6%. Moreover, this percentage did not have significant differences in courses and sex. 89.3% of respondents considered it necessary to use mannequins (simulators) for teaching technical skills, 82.6% considered it important to use simulators to improve these skills. Most of the students in our study (96%) believed that the use of simulators should begin with a 2-3 year course. By training format, 64.7% of students believed that from 3 to 5 students per simulator were acceptable and the ratio of teacher to student 1:6-8. The respondents answered to the question «What is your motivation for using simulators?»: «skill development» - 89.3%; «good mark» - 59.3%; «learn about a rare pathology» - 47.3%; «feedback» - 31.3%; «training for accreditation» for students of all courses - 30.7%, while 100% of 6th year students gave a positive answer. Conclusions: Students appreciate simulator training in the form of small group classes. Most students believed that the use of simulators should begin from an early stage of training. Students are ready to use simulation equipment, but only as part of practical exercises in various disciplines.