Page 88 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Winter 2014

Table 3 Academic Self-Perceptions (n = 24)
p Value
Traditional Average Reflective Average Change
5. Learning strategies that worked for me before continue to 4.11 4.33 .16
work for me now.
10. I was confident about passing all phases. 4.22 4.22 .65
20. The curriculum was focused on actual care delivered 4.22 4.44 .001*
in combat.
26. Modules/courses were good preparation for current practice. 4.00 4.33 .02*
27. I was able to memorize all I need. 3.56 3.67 .46
31. I learned a lot about empathy in my profession. 3.11 3.78 .00*
41. My problem solving skills were well developed here. 3.89 4.33 .28
45. Much of what I had to learn seemed relevant to being a 3.89 4.56 .001*
team medic.
Score 30–40: Confident Total 31.00 33.67
Note: *Statistically significant.

Table 4 Perceptions of Atmosphere (n = 24)
p Value
Traditional Average Reflective Average Change
11. The atmosphere was relaxed during clinical rotations. 4.00 4.00 .11
12. The school was well time-tabled. 4.11 4.11 1.00
17. Cheating was a problem in this school. 2.33 2.78 .21
23. The atmosphere is relaxed during lectures. 3.67 4.00 .001*
30. There were opportunities for me to develop interpersonal skills. 4.00 4.00 1.00
33. I feel comfortable class socially. 3.89 4.33 .01*
34. The atmosphere was relaxed during seminars/tutorials. 3.67 4.00 .01*
35. I found the experience disappointing. 1.42 1.78 .21
36. I was able to concentrate well. 3.83 3.89 .33
42. The enjoyment outweighed the stress of studying medicine. 3.89 4.22 .001*
43. The atmosphere motivated me as a learner. 4.00 4.44 .16
49. I felt able to ask the questions I wanted. 4.00 4.22 .33
Score: 30–44: A more positive perception; 45–60: Total 42.81 45.78
Teaching highly thought of
Note: *Statistically significant.

previous investigation has provided information on SOF Limitations
medics, military medics, the DREEM instrument mea- An obvious limitation of this study is the small sample
suring medics’ educational environment, nor any study size and lack of statistical power. Of the multitudes of
on SOF medics’ perceptions of their clinical education.
SOF medics in the US military, only 34 medics were
surveyed and of those, only 24 surveys were included
Due to the inclusion criteria, this investigation is gen- for analysis. During the preliminary phase of this study
eralizable to SOF medics and possibly conventional in 2012, the PI withdrew from research collaboration
military medics, but should not be generalized to other with the military due to officials’ concerns that medic
populations of practitioners who have not served as participants could have negative perceptions of the cur-
SOF medics. Within the SOF medic population, there riculum or educational environment, and if results were
are several different subpopulations based on branch published, they could reflect poorly on command(s).
and specific job, such as Civil Affairs (CA) medic or SF Due to this potential for bias, the PI removed this study’s
medic, which may have varied the generalizability of the oversight from the military and accessed SOF medics
results.

78 Journal of Special Operations Medicine Volume 14, Edition 4/Winter 2014