Abstract:
Introduction: The undergraduate curricula of medical schools in King
Abdul Aziz University, Saudi Arabia, Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia and
Sana’a University, Republic of Yemen are traditional, like most of the medical schools in
the Middle East region. The curriculum in Dundee University Medical School, UK,
claims to follow the prescriptions of the UK General Medical Council to be outcome
based with three interlocking phases and students encouraged to take responsibility for
their own learning.
The aim of this study is to measure the educational environment, using the 50-item
Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM), in each medical school and
to compare the educational environment as perceived by the responding students of the
traditional medical schools in developing countries with that of the ‘‘modernised’’
medical school in Dundee University, UK.
Methods: The DREEM was administered to 1072 medical students in the four different
universities. Using SPSS, data were expressed as means of scores. Comparisons between
schools, years of study and gender were made using non-parametric tests.
Results: For all three traditional medical schools, the mean scores of the inventory were
lower compared with Dundee Medical School. Students from traditional schools rated
their learning and teaching environment significantly lower than their counterparts in Dundee Medical School. Similarly, they rated their academic self-perceptions, social-self
perceptions and their atmosphere more poorly than the Dundee students.
Conclusion: The DREEM provides useful diagnostic information about medical schools,
whether it is in developing or western developed countries.
