Comparison of undergraduate educational environment in medical and nursing program using the DREEM tool.

INTRODUCTION: Educational environment (EE) in a health educational institute can bring about an enduring impact on the students' motivation, knowledge, critical thinking along with their social life. Therefore, identifying strengths and the need for change in the education environment is vital for the enhancement of the students' learning.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the perceptions of nursing and medical students about their EE in a private university, Karachi Pakistan.

METHODOLOGY: Data from two cross-sectional studies of 884 students from both medical and nursing schools of Aga Khan University was acquired and analyzed. EE was measured by a well-known inventory i.e. 'Dundee' Reading Educational Environment Measure (DREEM). The scores were constructed using standardized guidelines. Mann-Whitney U test and two way ANOVA were used in statistical analysis.

RESULTS: With 84.1% average response rate, the mean + SD DREEM score was measured as 126 ± 20.3. Nursing students regarded more positive perception about their EE (127.3 ± 19.3) as compared to medical students (124.6 ± 21.3) and was found to be statistically significant (P = 0.027). Medical students scored higher in the domain of Perception of Atmosphere (PoA); whereas, nursing students scored higher in Academic Self Perception (ASP). Both of the groups have rated lower scores on the domain of Perception of Teaching (PoT).

CONCLUSION: Both medical and nursing students appreciated the EE pertaining to Perception of Learning (PoA), Academic Self- Perception (ASP), Perception of learning (PoL) and Social Self-perception (SSP). The study showed that nursing students' perception on their EE was relatively more satisfactory than medical students. However, both medical and nursing students identified areas of improvement in the domain of Perception of Teaching (PoT). This finding indicates dire need to devise innovative teaching strategies both for medical & nursing education.