An evaluation of the cardiology and cardiovascular surgery educational program at Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the education program of the Internship Committee of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department.To this end; grades received in the level placement test, the follow-up test, the training course and the 1st midterm of the 2nd semester were used along with the forms aimed at assessing the students? level of satisfaction with the implementation courses and the internship examination. Additionally, a self-evaluation scale was designed for the fields of knowledge, attitude and behaviors.The level placement test and the follow-up test revealed that the education program of the Internship Committee of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department was effective and able to fulfill the predetermined educational objectives. It was also determined that the most important factor affecting the attainment of learning goals was the study habits and that the students who were used to studying on a regular basis received higher grades in both the level-placement and follow-up tests. A relation between the increase in the learning levels of the students and satisfaction with the internship was found, and the level of satisfaction with internship was higher among the students who reported that they were able to learn `very well? and `well?.An overall evaluation of the obtained findings shows that the internship committee should present diverse clinical settings to the students and try to alter their study habits by giving assignments and by assigning projects and tasks to them. Additionally, in order to increase the level of learning efficiency, the students can be made responsible for patient care and educational practices based on TASK can be applied.