The implication of integrated training program for medical history education

Background: A full spectrum of medical education requires not only clinical skills but also humanistic qualities in the medical professionals, which can be facilitated by an integrated training program. An integrated project was created to improve one's medical intellectual and communication competence and to enable them to become docents who can perform well, as well as for development of their humanitarian nature. The aim of this study was to suggest an integrated program that provided approaches for creating positive effects in medical history education. Methods: Taiwan Medical Museum conducted a project on medical history lessons and docent training program; 51 participants (24 male and 27 female) attended this plan. Targets took pre-tests before lectures, attended courses of medical history, and then took post-tests. Next, they received a series of lessons on presentation skills and practiced for guiding performance. After all the training processes, the attendees succeeded in all evaluations in order to guide exhibition visitors. Data were analyzed using paired t test. Results: Two types of assessments were followed, i.e., cognitive examination and guiding practice, and both were related to good performance. Reliability (Cronbach's α) was 0.737 for the cognitive examination and 0.87 for the guiding evaluation. It indicated that the integrated program for docent training resulted in a significant difference (p ≦ 0.0001). Conclusion: The participants demonstrated better achievement and knowledge acquisition through the entire process, which led to great performance when approached by the visitors. The whole project helped to shape up a good docent and to accumulate positive learning experiences for medical professionals as well. Therefore, an integrated program is recommended to medical history education in the future.