Critical Thinking Dispositions among Medical Students in Two stages: Basic Medical Sciences and Pre-Internship

Introduction: Critical thinking is considered as an ultimate goal for education, and a criteria for academic accreditation. So, organizations such as World Federation of Medical Education (WFME) emphasize its importance. This study aimed to assess critical thinking dispositions among medical students’ at two medical school stages (basic medical science and pre-internship) in two medical universities in year 2010. performance on at the two different levels of on all the students at two universities of medical sciences. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study run in Tehran (TUMS) and Mashhad Universities of medical sciences (MUMS). A census sample of medical students (n=635) studying in basic medical sciences or pre-internship stages received California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory (CCDI) and demographic questionnaire. Data was analyzed using descriptive indices and t-test. Results: The total mean score on CCDI according to the completed (n=442) questionnaires, was 291.08±30.51. It was 291.38±31.98 for the basic science students and 290.70±28.6 at the pre-internship level. While the performance of the students at the two levels of basic science and pre-internship showed no significant differences, on the three subscales of inquisitiveness (p=0.012), self-confidence (p=0.011)and truth-seeking(p=0.012), we observed significant differences. The total mean score on CCDI was 290.68±30.9 for Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) and 291.67±29.97 for MUMS. The total scores for the two universities was not significantly different (p>0.7) however, the performance of the students at TUMS on the subtest for systematicity was found to be significantly better (p=0.023).Only two top deciles of the students had strongly positive critical thinking dispositions. Conclusion: Students’ critical thinking dispositions were intermediate and positive. It seems that our educational system requires to be revised in order to improve students’ critical thinking dispositions. This study could be the first step to doing research to find better ways to intervening curriculum in order to promote critical thinking dimensions.