Development of learning consultation program for medical students

The purpose of this report was to develop a learning consultation program to help medical students adjust to studying. Also, it investigated students with learning difficulties and determined their learning needs.

Four hundred forty-two medical students from 2 medical schools in Korea were surveyed with regard to learning difficulties and learning consultation needs. Of the respondents, 202 students were male and 206 were female; the remained was unidentified. We used frequency and crosstab analysis to analyze the data from the survey.

The needs analysis showed that first-year students had the most serious academic difficulties of those who were surveyed, possessing a lack of learning skills and medical adaptation to clinical situations. In response, these students wished to receive learning consultation from the medical faculty and senior students. Thus, we developed a learning consultation program for medical students, based on learning consultation cases in domestic and foreign universities.

This study indicates that medical students have learning difficulties and need learning consultations, especially first-year students. Therefore, we developed a learning consultation program that consists of problem screening, problem specifications, and choosing strategies. After implementing the program, it can help medical students adjust to the medical environment. Furthermore, these findings have implications for studies on learning consultation programs for medical students.