Perceptions of undergraduate medical students regarding the Educational Environment: A Baseline study.

Background: Perception regarding the educational environment in an institute is related to various factors like motivation, satisfaction, and effective learning of medical students. Objective: To determine undergraduate medical students’ perceptions of 1st – final year class, regarding the educational environment in their institute. Methodology: Descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at a private Medical and Dental College in Lahore; during the time period of July 19-Oct 19. A sample of 375 was taken, equally divided among all five classes and across gender & Purposive sampling was applied. The data collection instrument was DREEM Questionnaire. Socio-demographic and variables of DREEM were included in the study. Data was analyzed on SPSS 20 planned as 1) Descriptive statistics, mean and standard deviation for all categories, frequency trends will be noted for total and subunit scores of DREEM 2) Independent sample t-test will be applied to identify gender and residential status-related difference in all subcategories and total score of DREEM 3) ANOVA will be applied to identify variation among all five classes. Results: 163 male and 203 female students participated. DREEM total mean score was 118.44±19.41, and 299(81.7%) had responded to it to be more positive than negative. Independent sample t-test found a significant P-value <0.05 with gender & residential status for total as well as subunit domains of DREEM. One-way ANOVA again showed significant P-values <0.05 for total as well as subunit domains of DREEM. Conclusion: Assessment of the educational environment should be conducted on regular basis as per policy in order to have a successful environment. This will in turn be beneficial for the students as well as the institution in a timely manner; and will definitely help in improving the teaching and learning environment in the institution by taking the necessary actions in weaker areas. Keywords: Educational environment, DREEM, undergraduate, medical student