The Journal of Medical Education and Development

Objectives : The course "Health IV" and "consulting room" are two resources of learning about the method of preparing proposal and passing the final thesis for medical students at Zahedan University of Medical Sciences (ZUMS). The purpose of this study was to investigate the students' viewpoints on the effects of "Health IV" and consulting room on their final theses (pl. of thesis).

Methods : The sample in this descriptive study included 155 medical students of ZUMS who had registered their theses at the school. The study was conducted during 2005-2006 and the data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed via descriptive statistics of correlation and Chi-square test.

Results : The findings of the study revealed that 38.1% of the students agreed or completely agreed with integrating the two courses "Research Methods" and "Health IV". Also, 43.9% of the subjects disagreed or completely disagreed with it. Approximately, 35% of the students used the services of the consulting room in writing their proposals. The effect of this service on the final thesis was low and very low in 10.3%, moderate in 12.3%, and high and very high in 20% of the students. About 25.8% of the subjects used the room services in conducting their theses, 61.3% did not use the services. The percent of the students who used the room in writing the proposal or doing their theses or did not use it at all was 85%. The effect of the room on conducting the thesis project was low and very low in 7.1%, moderate in 11.6%, and high and very high in 20%.

Conclusion : The high amount of agreement with the complete integration of the "Research Methods" and "Health IV" needs more investigation. Also, the necessity of the consulting room should be revised by the manager and its continuation should be on the students' demands.