The Role of Personal Habits, Learning Strategies, Family and Cultural Background in Critical Thinking Skills among Undergraduate Medical Students in Malaysia

Abstract

In the medical field, critical thinking is identified as a process of collecting and examining patients’ information with the end goal of a precise clinical judgment. We aimed to determine the level of critical thinking among undergraduate medical students and investigate the associations between the personal habits, family and cultural background and critical thinking. This cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students of private medical university in Malaysia, and a total of 102 students participated in this study. The data was collected using an online questionnaire, designed in English, and consisting of structured close-ended questions. Unpaired t test and ANOVA were used for data analysis. 23.5% of the respondents had positive disposition towards critical thinking, while 56.9% had ambivalent/mixed disposition and 19.6% had averse/hostile disposition towards critical thinking. The overall mean score for participants was 60.0 (SD=15.5), indicating an average of ambivalent/mixed disposition towards critical thinking. Findings reveals that there was a significant association between non auditory learners and critical thinking skills. Non auditory learners had a higher critical thinking score compared to auditory learners with a mean difference of 6.93 (P=0.024). Besides that, a significant association was established between people who disagreed that teacher have the absolute authority and critical thinking skills among undergraduate medical students (P=0.003). However, there was no association between gender and critical thinking skills. This study shows that there is a room for improvement for medical students to enhance the development of their critical thinking ability. Medical education curriculum should include problem-based learning, case-based learning, medical simulation, and student-centred models to develop critical thinking skills among medical students.