UNDERSTANDING OF CARDIOVASCULAR PHENOMENA IN MEDICAL STUDENTS

Abstract

Background: Undergraduate (UG) medical students of II Semester of different institutions were surveyed to determine the prevalence of 13 different misconceptions (conceptual difficulties) about cardiovascular physiology. The prevalence of these misconceptions ranged from 75.60% to 25.30%. Methods: A list of questionnaire was selected that were diagnostic for difficulties that can seriously interfere with students mastery of the topic. Diagnostic questions were generally of the form: ‘If x increases, then will y increases/decrease/show no change’. Results: The result suggests that students have a number of underlying conceptual difficulties about cardio-vascular phenomena. Our possible source of some misconceptions is the students’ inability to apply simple general models to specific cardiovascular phenomena. Conclusion: UG students may ‘understand’ less than they appear to ‘know’. Some implications of these results for teachers of physiology and medicine are explained.