Teaching and evaluation of field training course for health services management undergraduates: conventional and logbook methods

Introduction: One of the strongest tools for teaching and evaluation of students, especially medical students and related fields is Logbook. The aim of this research was to design, implement and measure teachers and students’ satisfaction with the logbook in the field training 2 course for health services management undergraduate students. Methods: This descriptive study was performed on 44 health service management undergraduate students and six faculty members of field training at School of Management and Medical Information, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2015. Participants were selected through census method. The research consisted of two stages: design and implementation of the logbook, and satisfaction survey through a researcher-made questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney and Chi-square tests. Results: In the first stage, a 21 section logbook was developed for field training and implemented with a group of 22 students; results were then compared with the control group. The mean score of faculty members’ satisfaction with the conventional method was 38± 4.6 and with the logbook method was 36.7±8.1; the difference was statistically insignificant using the Mann-Whitney test (P=0.87). The mean score of students’ satisfaction with the conventional method was 37.8± 6.3 and with the logbook method was 41.6±8 and the difference was significant (P=0.047, Z=175.5). Conclusion: Using the logbook for teaching and evaluation of field training for health services management undergraduates while motivating students and increasing their satisfaction, provides a consistent method in the educational process of field training. However, in order to achieve all of the goals and minimum learning essentials, the logbook should be reviewed and further investigated for implementation.