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Students’ academic achievement is a multifaceted phenomenon. While depression can suppress academic performance, academic satisfaction can promote it. This study aims to investigate the relationship between depression and academic satisfaction among students studying at Shahroud University of Medical Sciences.

This cross-sectional study was carried out on 312 undergraduate students of Shahroud University of Medical Sciences. Data collection tools included demographic data form, University Student Depression Inventory and academic satisfaction scale. Data were collected by a simple random sampling method and self-reporting by the participants. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (multivariate multiple regression analysis and multivariate linear regression).

The participants’ mean depression and academic satisfaction scores were 71.92 ± 22.94 and 53.70 ± 9.69, respectively. In addition, the depression score was significantly and inversely correlated with students' academic satisfaction (r = −0.122, p-value = 0.031). Moreover, there was a significant correlation between students’ depression with marital status, level of the semester, interest in the field of study and study topic.

This study emphasizes improving education, spiritual and social support and strengthens strategies to deal with depression and medical science students’ related factors.

Students of medical sciences are exposed to depression during their college years, which is related to their academic satisfaction.

As the aging population increases steadily, the demands for specialized nurses and geriatricians willing to work in geriatric settings will probably explode. Accordingly, the medical sciences students’ attitude toward older adults and their willingness to work with them must be determined. This study aims to determine the medical sciences students’ attitude toward older people and its relationship with their willingness to work with this population. In addition, it sought to determine the variables that could predict students’ attitudes toward the elderly.

A cross-sectional design using a stratified random sampling method was used to recruit a sample of 305 Iranian medical sciences students with a response rate of 97.4%. The instruments for data collection were composed of three parts: socio-demographic characteristics of participants, Kogan’s Attitudes toward Old People Scale and the Willingness to Work with Elderly People Scale (WEPS). Data were analyzed in SPSS version 23 (IBM SPSS statistics 23.0).

The participants’ mean (SD) age was 22.95 (2.53). Most of them (69%) were women, and 51% were nursing students. The findings showed that 70% of students had a slightly positive attitude toward the elderly and only 12.8% of them declared geriatric setting as their workplace preference in the future. Experience of volunteering activities with elders, WEPS score, workplace preference after graduation and gender were the predictors of medical science students’ attitudes toward the elderly.

This paper further develops previous research on the attitudes of Iranian medical sciences students toward older adults.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.

The paper provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

This paper aims to provide an introductory overview and selected annotated bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy across all library types.

It introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2014.

It provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

The aim of this study is to identify the status of managing gray literature (GL) in medical science libraries in terms of three dimensions, collection development, organization and dissemination.

In this survey study, a structured questionnaire was used. The questionnaire consisted of 30 questions and consisted of six sections (demographic characteristics, the use of the term GL, types of GL, collection development, organization and dissemination). In total, 50 librarians from 15 medical science libraries participated in this study. The questionnaires were distributed manually to librarians by visiting libraries. All the librarians filled in the questionnaires. It should be noted that descriptive statistics and Excel and SPSS software were used for data analysis.

The results of using the term GL showed that 68 per cent of librarians use the source name itself. Most GL in libraries were theses (94 per cent). Moreover, a review of the status of GL collection showed that 60 per cent of libraries had written instructions for providing these resources. A total of 62 per cent of librarians stated that there is a GL selection committee in their library and the librarian is the most important member of the collection department. A total of 40 per cent of libraries were weeding GL. The most common way of obtaining GL was through deposition. The analysis of the status of GL organization indicated that 80 per cent of libraries had GL organization. A total of 90 per cent of libraries had digitized GL, and that librarians played a large role in organizing such resources. Evaluation of the dissemination of GL showed that all libraries have enabled users to access GL. In most libraries, users were only allowed to use GL in the library, and it was not possible to copy GL. Students and faculty members were the most important users of GL. Informing through the library website and the parent organization was the most important way of informing about these resources.

GL is one of the most important resources in medical and non-medical academic libraries. In this study, for the first time, the status of GL management in Iranian libraries of medical sciences was investigated. The results of this study can be useful for policymakers and managers of medical and non-medical libraries.

Education is a human right and access to high quality education is key to sustainable socioeconomic development. Improving the quality of higher education institutes is essential for generating the productive human resources. Assessing the quality of higher education from the students’ perspective can be considered a crucial factor in the monitoring of service quality in universities. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the quality of educational services in a higher education institute, the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (KUMS), in the west of Iran.

A multistage sampling method was used to select 346 students from the KUMS, who were enrolled in the second semester of the academic year 2015-2016. The SERVQUAL questionnaire was used to gather data on students’ perceptions and their expectations about the quality of educational services. The authors used a statistical significance level of 0.05 to examine the gap between the students’ expectations and their perceptions of service quality in five dimensions, namely tangibles, responsiveness, reliability, empathy and assurance.

The results showed that there was a negative service quality gap in all five dimensions. The overall mean score of students’ expectations and their perceptions was 3.19±0.44 and 2.4±0.45, respectively. The score gap between the overall mean score of perceptions and expectations of students was −0.79, which was statistically significant (p<0.0001). The highest and lowest quality gaps were related to the assurance (−0.84) and tangible (−0.70) dimensions, respectively.

The study indicated that the quality of educational services provided in the KUMS did not meet students’ expectations in five dimensions of service quality. Thus, it warrants further investigations to determine how to improve the quality of educational services in higher education institutes such as the KUMS.

Flipped classroom (FC) is a potential approach that encourages active learning and enhances student performance while reducing the failure rate in education. This study was carried out to present the conceptual model of FC adoption by students in higher education.

This was a cross-sectional study in which 110 medical students from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran, were selected by convenience sampling methods as the sample population. An extended technology acceptance model (TAM) was applied to determine the students’ intention concerning the FC adoption. A research-based questionnaire, the validity and reliability of which have been approved, was used as the data collection instrument. The data was analyzed by SPSS v16, IBM. Correlation and regression methods have been used in the empirical study. Finally, the authorized model was presented.

The data show that subjective norms and perceived enjoyment have a direct and significant effect on perceived usefulness of the FC approach (ß = 0.32, P-value < 0.05), (ß = 0.7, P-value < 0.01). Also, we found that perceived usefulness (ß = 0.67, P-value < 0.01), perceived ease of use (ß = 0.51, P-value < 0.01) and self-efficacy (ß = 0.43, P-value < 0.01) have a direct and significant effect on FC adoption.

This study extended TAM and presented a validity model to elucidate student’s behavior concerning FC acceptance. Also, in this study, five determinant factors that affect successful adoption of FC have been clearly identified. The authors found that the new approach of learning such as FC should be an effective, attractive and enjoyable method.

The findings of this study should be considered when successful implementation of FC is in progress.

Drawing on positioning theory, the purpose of this paper is to characterize the activities and positions of students and supervisors at workplaces and on-campus skills training sites across the higher health professional educations of medicine, sports science, and nursing. Furthermore, the study explored the impact of work-based learning (WBL) and skills training on students’ personal professional identity development.

A qualitative case study was conducted across six workplace sites and three on-campus skills training sites with 20 days of observation and 21 in-depth interviews. The data were inductively analyzed resulting in the identification of 12 characteristic narratives. This was followed by abductive analysis using Harré’s concept of positioning as the theoretical framework.

Across the three higher health professional educations, work-based and on-campus skills training sites were characterized by two learning spaces with distinct positions, rights, and duties. The WBL sites gave the students rich opportunities to position themselves, act independently, and behave as professionals seriously striving for mastery. On the on-campus sites, the students behaved less seriously, and were conscious of their rights to try out things, get support, and have fun.

The authors recommend that future studies explore aspects of professional identity formation due to its consequences for curriculum design, including the distribution of simulated spaces and professional spaces in students’ learning environments.

This study adds to the empirical evidence and conceptual frameworks of personal and shared professional identity development in the field of skills and WBL, and it underlines the ongoing value of Harré’s positioning theory in educational research.

This study explores the subject of goal congruence in the university by comparing faculty members and students from three academic programs: medicine, social sciences and engineering. The major findings of this study are: 1) all six groups scored higher for goal congruence on support goals than on output goals; 2) engineering student scores were the most incongruent with the current state of university goals, while medical student scores were the most congruent; and 3) the overall score for goal incongruence was medium. The implications of the findings are discussed.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among medical laboratory science students (MLSSs) in the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Ghana.

A cross-sectional study design was employed to recruit a total of 178 students into the study. A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather relevant information on risk factors, and a hepatitis B diagnostic test kit was used to test for HBV infection. Descriptive, chi-square test, bivariate and multiple logistic regression statistical analysis were computed. Significance was observed at p < 0.05.

The prevalence of HBV infection among MLSSs was 6.7%. Torn gloves and splash of blood and body fluids contributed to 43.0% and 28.0% of all the risk factors of HBV infection, respectively. Also, 43.3% of students had received at least one dose of the hepatitis B vaccination. Sharp object-related injury and torn gloves increased the odds of HBV infection, while vaccination decreased the odds of HBV infection.

This study reveals the prevalence of HBV among MLSSs, who are recognized as being among the high-risk student populations aside from student nurses.